Pine zale
- French common name: Noctuelle du pin
- Scientific name: Zale duplicata (Bethune)
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Arthropoda
- Class: Insecta
- Order: Lepidoptera
- Family: Noctuidae
Distribution
- New Brunswick
- Ontario
- Quebec
- Western Canada
Damage, symptoms and biology
Zale duplicata is a common innocuous solitary defoliator.Mature larva to 35 mm long. Head, mottled brown or grey with prominent white marking at vertices. Body, elongate, rusty brown (most common) to dark grey. Middorsal white to greyish white Y marking on the posterior margin of each abdominal segment. Prominent pair of tubercles on dorsum of eighth abdominal segment. First two pairs of mid-abdominal prolegs reduced in size.
This species overwinters in the pupal stage. Adults emerge in May, larvae are present June to August and pupation occurs in 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)
Main host(s)
Photos
Dorsal view of mature larva (rusty brown morph), on lodgepole pine
Dorso-lateral view of mature larva (rusty brown morph), on lodgepole pine
Dorso-lateral view of mature larva (grey morph), on lodgepole pin
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