Native
Choristoneura houstonana (Grote) (Tortricidae: Tortricinae: Archipini)
Common name: juniper budworm moth
Synonyms: retana (Tortrix)
Note: Obraztsov and Powell (1977) described the monotypic genus Cudonigera to accommodate this species, but Dombroskie & Sperling (2013) synonymized Cudonigera with Choristoneura.
FWLFWL:
forewing length; the distance from the base of the forewing to the apex, including fringe
: 7.5-11 mm
Head more smoothly scaled than in other species of Choristoneura, typically red-orange. Male without costal fold. Forewing with ground color red to warm brown, with fasciaefascia:
a dark transverse band on the forewing
composed of large, blotch-like paler patches, giving the appearance of a raised, spotty profile; hindwing gray.
Male genitalia are characterized by tegumentegumen:
dorsal section of the transverse ring in male genitalia; often heavily sclerotized 
with broad shoulders; short, wide uncusuncus:
a sclerotized process which is fused to the posterodorsal margin of tergum IX
; and small valvaevalva:
an appendage flanking the intromittent organ that is used to clasp the female during copulation
compared to other species of Choristoneura. Female genitalia are characterized by a sclerotizedsclerotized:
hardened; usually in reference to larval structures or adult genitalia 
hood-like structure over the papillae analespapillae anales:
the female ovipositor lobes 
, a sickle-shaped signumsignum:
a sclerotized projection or patch on the interior of the corpus bursae
, and the presence of a cestumcestum:
a long, bandlike sclerotization of the wall of the ductus bursae
.
The following account is summarized from Heinrichs (1971)Heinrichs (1971):
Heinrichs, E. A. 1971. External morphology of larvae of Choristoneura houstonana (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae). Canadian Entomologist. 103(1): 12-17. and Obraztsov & Powell (1977).
Mature instar 15-21 mm in length. Head reddish brown; prothoracic shieldprothoracic shield:
a sclerotized plate on the dorsal surface of the prothorax 
yellowish brown bordered laterally and posteriorly with a dark brown or black band; thoracic legs brown; body olive green. Chaetotaxychaetotaxy:
the arrangement of setae (in reference to Lepidoptera larvae), often depicted on a "setal map"
typical for Archipini: meso- and metathoraxmetathorax:
the most posterior thoracic segment
with SV group bearing one seta; SV groups on A1, 2, 7, 8, 9 numbering 3:3:2:2:2; anal fork well-developed.
Choristoneura houstonana is similar to several species of Choristoneura and Archips, but can be usually separated by the distinctive “raised” blotches along the fasciaefascia:
a dark transverse band on the forewing of the FW.
The following account is summarized from Heinrichs & Thompson (1968).
In Kansas, there is a single generation per year. Eggs are laid singly in July to early August in crevices of the host plant where two shoots meet. Females lay an average of about 100 eggs. The oviposition period lasts up to eight days. Eggs hatch 8 to 12 days later and undergo 8 to 11 instars during development. Upon hatching, larvae spin a small silken nest between two shoots and chew into the base of a leaf. Larvae feed by mining leaves of the host plant from the base up. Larvae will mine multiple leaves throughout their development. Overwintering occurs as a fourth instar larva with feeding activity ceasing around September. Larvae resume feeding in April or May and switch to external feeding rather than mining by the fifth instar by tying together shoots with silk and feeding within this nest. Pupation occurs in late June to July in a silken tunnel constructed by the larva in the constructed nest. Adults eclose and mate in late July and August.
Choristoneura houstonana is a specialist on Juniperus spp. It has been recorded once on Platycladus orientalis growing near an infested Juniperus virginiana tree.
| Host plant | Host plant family | Reference(s) |
| Juniperus californica | Cupressaceae | Powell 1964bPowell 1964b: Powell, J. A. 1964b. Biological and taxonomic studies on tortricine moths, with reference to the species in California. University of California Publications in Entomology. Vol. 32. 317 pp. |
| Juniperus chinensis | Cupressaceae | Heinrichs & Thompson 1968 |
| Juniperus scopulorum | Cupressaceae | Heinrichs & Thompson 1968 |
| Juniperus virginiana | Cupressaceae | Heinrichs & Thompson 1968 |
| Juniperus sp. | Cupressaceae | Powell & Obraztsov 1977 |
| Platycladus orientalis | Cupressaceae | Heinrichs & Thompson 1968 |
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Choristoneura houstonana is broadly distributed in the southeast, south central, and southwestern United States. It is especially common in pinyon-juniper woodlands of Texas and Oklahoma. A disjunct population occurs in coastal regions of the northeastern United States, from New Jersey to Cape Cod.
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