Cypress Coneworm Moths

Dioryctria pygmaeella · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Pyralidae

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Cypress Coneworm Moths
Photo: Laura Gaudette, CC BY

The Cypress Coneworm Moth was first described by Émile Louis Ragonot in 1887. Its larvae live inside the cones of bald cypress (Taxodium distichum) and pond cypress (Taxodium ascendens). The species can produce up to three generations each year.

Source: Wikipedia

Life cycle

There may be as many as three generations per year.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 10 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Florida, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina.

Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.

Source: GBIF

Months it is reported in the US

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Source: GBIF

More photos

Cypress Coneworm Moths photo 2
Photo: Samantha Knight, CC BY
Cypress Coneworm Moths photo 3
Photo: iNaturalist user, CC0
Cypress Coneworm Moths photo 4
Photo: Annika Lindqvist, CC BY
Cypress Coneworm Moths photo 5
Photo: IDClaire, CC BY

Questions people ask

What do the larvae of Cypress Coneworm Moths eat?

The larvae feed inside the cones of bald cypress and pond cypress.

Source: Wikipedia

How many generations can Cypress Coneworm Moths have in a year?

They can have up to three generations annually.

Source: Wikipedia

Same family (Pyralidae)

Indian-Meal MothIndian-Meal MothPlodia interpunctellaCan damage your homeGreater Wax MothGreater Wax MothGalleria mellonellaMediterranean Flour MothMediterranean Flour MothEphestia kuehniellaCan damage your homeMeal mothMeal mothPyralis farinalisDamages trees, gardens or cropsBee MothBee MothAphomia sociellaNuisance, not dangerousYellow-fringed Dolichomia MothYellow-fringed Dolichomia MothHypsopygia olinalis

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dioryctria_pygmaeella

Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia

Text written 2026-10-28 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-28.

How this page works

This is one bug's fact sheet. The colored box at the top says whether it is dangerous. Sections below cover how to recognize it, whether it is a pest, and how to deal with it. The US map shows which states have records; tap a state to see other bugs there.

Every fact on Bug FAQ comes from a named source (university extension sites, government agencies, GBIF, iNaturalist, Wikipedia). The source is linked next to each section. If we have no source for something, we leave it out.