Xestia mustelina (Smith)
- Latin name: Xestia mustelina (Smith)
- French name:
- Order: Lepidoptera
- Family: Noctuidae
Description
Distribution
British Columbia
Micro-habitat(s)
Needle
Damage, symptoms and biology
Xestia mustelina is a common innocuous solitary defoliator.Mature larva up to 26 mm long. Head, cream coloured with brown netting. Body brown, dorsum light brown with white middorsal and subdorsal stripes; broad yellowish white spiracular stripe.
This species overwinters in the egg stage. Larvae are present from May to mid-July; pupation occurs in July and adults emerge from July to August.
Canadian Forest Service Publications
https://cfs.nrcan.gc.ca/publications/search?q=
Diet and feeding behaviour
-
Phyllophagous
: Feeds on the leaves of plants.
- Free-living defoliator: Feeds on and moves about freely on foliage.
Information on host(s)
The principal hosts of Xestia mustelina are Douglas-fir and western hemlock; other hosts include western redcedar, grand fir, amabilis fir, subalpine fir, Engelmann spruce, white spruce, Sitka spruce, western larch and mountain hemlock.
Main host(s)
Amabilis fir, Douglas-fir, Engelmann spruce, grand fir, mountain hemlock, Sitka spruce, subalpine fir, western hemlock, western larch, western redcedar, white spruce
Photos
Dion Manastyrski Centre de foresterie du Pacifique, Victoria (Colombie-Britannique) / Pacific Forestry Centre, Victoria, British Columbia
Dion Manastyrski Centre de foresterie du Pacifique, Victoria (Colombie-Britannique) / Pacific Forestry Centre, Victoria, British Columbia