Type

Native

Taxonomy

Taniva albolineana (Kearfott)

Common name: spruce needleminer moth

Synonyms: abietana (Argyroploce), piceae (Olethreutes)

Adult Recognition

FWL: 5.0-7.5 mm

Head, thorax dark brown or gray; forewing with ground color dark brown or black, overlaid with strongly contrasting silver, gray, or silver fasciaefasciae:
plural of "fascia"
; males without a forewing costal foldforewing costal fold:
a flap or fold at the base of the forewing that contains specialized sex scales
; hindwing of both sexes brown.

Male genitalia are characterized by a short, bifidbifid:
cleft, forked, divided into two parts
uncus and long, slender, sinuous valvaevalvae:
plural of "valva"
. Female genitalia are characterized by a well-developed lamella antevaginalis with long, tongue-shaped posterolateralposterolateral:
towards the rear and side; posterior and lateral
projections; and a signumsignum:
a sclerotized projection or patch on the interior of the corpus bursae
present as a weakly expressed scobinatescobinate:
rasplike
patch.

Larval Morphology

The following account is summarized from MacKay (1959)MacKay (1959):
MacKay, M. R. 1959. Larvae of the North American Olethreutidae (Lepidoptera). Canadian Entomologist, Supplement 10: 1-338..

Mature larva 7 mm in length on average; width of head 0.5 mm on average; head, prothoracic shieldprothoracic shield:
a sclerotized plate on the dorsal surface of the prothorax
, legs yellowish; head elongate, with black pigmentation laterally; anal shieldanal shield:
a sclerotized plate on the dorsal surface of the last abdominal segment (in larvae)
partly yellow; body pale green, pinaculapinacula:
flattened sclerotized plates on a caterpillar that bear the setae
small, concolorous; anal fork absent; SV group on A1, 2, 7, 8, 9 variable, most often 3:3:2:2:2, 2:3:2:2:2, or 3:2:3:2:2.

Detailed figures of larval chaetotaxychaetotaxy:
the arrangement of setae (in reference to Lepidoptera larvae), often depicted on a "setal map"
are available in MacKay (1959)MacKay (1959):
MacKay, M. R. 1959. Larvae of the North American Olethreutidae (Lepidoptera). Canadian Entomologist, Supplement 10: 1-338..

Similar Species

Taniva albolineana is superficially similar to two other spruce-feeding species, Archips packardiana and Epinotia nanana. It can be easily separated from the former by the number of rows of scales per antennal segment (one in T. albolineana, two in A. packardiana). Separating it from E. nanana is more difficult, especially as the feeding damage caused by the two species is virtually identical. The forewing of T. albolineana tends to be less acute at the apexapex:
the point furthest removed from the base or at the end of the costal area
and has more well-defined fasciaefasciae:
plural of "fascia"
. Examination of the genitalia may be necessary for worn individuals. The genitalia of T. albolineana are readily distinguished from both A. packardiana, E. nanana, and all other similar-looking Nearctic tortricids.

Biology

The following account is summarized from Tashiro (1974)Tashiro (1974):
Tashiro, H. 1974. Biology and control of the spruce needleminer. Journal of Economic Entomology. 67: 89-92..

Slightly overlapping eggs are laid in a single row from the base of a spruce needle towards the apexapex:
the point furthest removed from the base or at the end of the costal area
. Between two and twelve eggs are laid per needle, typically in July. Larvae mine individual needles and overwinter in the larval stage, either in the mined needle itself or in nests of silk, frass, and dead needles. Feeding resumes in the spring, with pupation occurring in the silken nest. Adults are active from late May to early August, representing a single generation per year.

Taniva albolineata is not commonly considered a pest species, but it can cause occasional damage to spruce nursery stock. The preferred host appears to be spruce (Picea spp.) but it has also been recorded on balsam fir (Abies balsamea).

Host plant	Host plant family	Reference(s)
Abies balsamea	Pinaceae	Prentice 1966Prentice 1966: Prentice, R. M. 1966. Vol. 4. Microlepidoptera. In : Forest Lepidoptera of Canada recorded by the Forest Insect Survey. Dept. For. Canada Publ. 1142: 543-840.
Abies sp.	Pinaceae	Heinrich 1926Heinrich 1926: Heinrich, C. 1926. Revision of the North American moths of the subfamilies Laspeyresiinae and Olethreutinae. Bulletin of the United States National Museum. 132: 1-216.; MacKay 1959MacKay 1959: MacKay, M. R. 1959. Larvae of the North American Olethreutidae (Lepidoptera). Canadian Entomologist, Supplement 10: 1-338.
Picea abies	Pinaceae	Prentice 1966Prentice 1966: Prentice, R. M. 1966. Vol. 4. Microlepidoptera. In : Forest Lepidoptera of Canada recorded by the Forest Insect Survey. Dept. For. Canada Publ. 1142: 543-840.
Picea engelmanni	Pinaceae	Busck 1916Busck 1916: Busck, A. 1916. Descriptions of new North American Microlepidoptera. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 18: 147-154.; Prentice 1966Prentice 1966: Prentice, R. M. 1966. Vol. 4. Microlepidoptera. In : Forest Lepidoptera of Canada recorded by the Forest Insect Survey. Dept. For. Canada Publ. 1142: 543-840.
Picea glauca	Pinaceae	Prentice 1966Prentice 1966: Prentice, R. M. 1966. Vol. 4. Microlepidoptera. In : Forest Lepidoptera of Canada recorded by the Forest Insect Survey. Dept. For. Canada Publ. 1142: 543-840.
Picea mariana	Pinaceae	Prentice 1966Prentice 1966: Prentice, R. M. 1966. Vol. 4. Microlepidoptera. In : Forest Lepidoptera of Canada recorded by the Forest Insect Survey. Dept. For. Canada Publ. 1142: 543-840.
Picea pungens	Pinaceae	Busck 1916Busck 1916: Busck, A. 1916. Descriptions of new North American Microlepidoptera. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 18: 147-154.; Schaffner 1959Schaffner 1959: Schaffner, J. V. 1959. Microlepidoptera and their parasites reared from field collections in the northeastern United States. USDA, Misc. Publ. 767. 97 pp.; Prentice 1966Prentice 1966: Prentice, R. M. 1966. Vol. 4. Microlepidoptera. In : Forest Lepidoptera of Canada recorded by the Forest Insect Survey. Dept. For. Canada Publ. 1142: 543-840.
Picea rubens	Pinaceae	Schaffner 1959Schaffner 1959: Schaffner, J. V. 1959. Microlepidoptera and their parasites reared from field collections in the northeastern United States. USDA, Misc. Publ. 767. 97 pp.
Picea sp.	Pinaceae	Heinrich 1926Heinrich 1926: Heinrich, C. 1926. Revision of the North American moths of the subfamilies Laspeyresiinae and Olethreutinae. Bulletin of the United States National Museum. 132: 1-216.; Cumming 1954Cumming 1954: Cumming, M.E.P. 1954. Notes on the spruce needle miner, Taniva albolineana Kft. (Olethreutidae: Lepidoptera). Canadian Entomologist. 86(10): 457-460.; MacKay 1959MacKay 1959: MacKay, M. R. 1959. Larvae of the North American Olethreutidae (Lepidoptera). Canadian Entomologist, Supplement 10: 1-338.; Lindquist & Harnden 1966; Tashiro 1974Tashiro 1974: Tashiro, H. 1974. Biology and control of the spruce needleminer. Journal of Economic Entomology. 67: 89-92.; Godfrey et al. 1987Godfrey et al. 1987: Godfrey, G. L., Cashatt, E. D., Glenn, M. O. 1987. Microlepidoptera from the Sandy Creek and Illinois River Region: A annotated checklist of the suborders Dacnonypha, Monotrysia, and Ditrysia (in part) (Insecta). Spec. Publ. 7. Illinois Natural History Survey.; Miller 1987aMiller 1987a: Miller, W. E. 1987a. Guide to the Olethreutine moths of midland North America (Tortricidae). USDA Forest Service Agriculture Handbook 660: 1-104.

Host plant table (embedded)

View full screen host table here

Distribution

Taniva albolineana has a transcontinental distribution, occurring broadly in southern Canada and from Maine to North Carolina, Colorado, and Washington in the United States. Records from California require confirmation.

Links

Additional photos and a distribution map of this species in North America are available at Moth Photographers Group.