- Scientific name: Xestia mustelina (Smith)
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Arthropoda
- Class: Insecta
- Order: Lepidoptera
- Family: Noctuidae
Distribution
- British Columbia
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
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