Small pine looper
- French common name: Arpenteuse (petite) du pin
- Scientific name: Eupithecia palpata Pack.
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Arthropoda
- Class: Insecta
- Order: Lepidoptera
- Family: Geometridae
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Partial list of synonyms:
- Eupithecia transcanadata MacKay
Distribution
- British Columbia
- Newfoundland and Labrador
- Ontario
- Quebec
Damage, symptoms and biology
Eupithecia palpata is a relatively uncommon innocuous solitary defoliator.Mature larva up to 20 mm long. Head, unmarked reddish orange. Body, elongate; dorsum rusty brown with dark middorsal stripe; yellow stripe along lateral flange.
This species overwinters in the pupal stage. Adults emerge from June to late July, larvae are present from June to late September, and pupation occurs from September to October.
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 Eupithecia palpata are lodgepole pine and Douglas-fir; other hosts include Engelmann spruce, white spruce, western hemlock, subalpine fir, amabilis fir, grand fir and ponderosa pine.Main host(s)
- Balsam fir
- Black spruce
- Eastern white pine
- Jack pine
- Lodgepole pine
- Red spruce
- Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir
- White spruce
Secondary host(s)
- Douglas-fir
- Eastern hemlock
- Engelmann spruce
- Pitch pine
- Ponderosa pine
- Red pine
- Scots pine
- Sitka spruce
- Subalpine fir
- Tamarack
- Western hemlock
- Western white pine
Photos
Chrysalis
Thérèse Arcand
Larva on needle
Thérèse Arcand
Larva
Thérèse Arcand
Robert W. Duncan Centre de foresterie du Pacifique, Victoria (Colombie-Britannique) / Pacific Forestry Centre, Victoria, British Columbia
Robert W. Duncan Centre de foresterie du Pacifique, Victoria (Colombie-Britannique) / Pacific Forestry Centre, Victoria, British Columbia
Robert W. Duncan Centre de foresterie du Pacifique, Victoria (Colombie-Britannique) / Pacific Forestry Centre, Victoria, British Columbia