Hickory Shoot Borer Moth and Allies

Acrobasis caryae · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Pyralidae

Also called: Hickory Shoot Borer Moth

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Hickory Shoot Borer Moth and Allies
Photo: Seth Wollney, CC BY

The larvae eat several hickory species, such as shagbark, mockernut, and pignut hickories. They live and feed inside the shoots of these trees.

Source: Wikipedia

What it eats

They develop within the shoots of their host plants.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 27 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Michigan, New York, Texas, Vermont, North Carolina, New Jersey, Mississippi, Ohio.

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

Hickory Shoot Borer Moth and Allies photo 2
Photo: iNaturalist user, CC0
Hickory Shoot Borer Moth and Allies photo 3
Photo: Annika Lindqvist, CC BY
Hickory Shoot Borer Moth and Allies photo 4
Photo: Victor Engel, CC BY
Hickory Shoot Borer Moth and Allies photo 5
Photo: Robert Webster, CC BY-SA

Questions people ask

What do the larvae of the Hickory Shoot Borer Moth eat?

They feed on the shoots of several hickory species, such as shagbark and mockernut hickories.

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/Acrobasis_caryae

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

Text written 2026-10-27 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-27.

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.