Bug FAQPine Needleminer Moths
Exoteleia pinifoliella · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Gelechiidae
Also called: Exoteleia pinifoliella complex, Pine Needleminer Moth
Source: Wikipedia
Adults have brownish-yellow forewings speckled with dark scales and three white bands, while the hindwings are pale gray. There is one generation each year; the larvae mine pine needles, spend winter inside a mined needle, then bore into more needles and pupate in the final mine.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Adults have brownish-yellow forewings with dark speckles and three white bands; hindwings are pale gray.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
It occurs in eastern North America.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
The larvae feed on hard pines such as jack pine and pitch pine, mining the needles. They spend the winter inside a mined needle.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
There is one generation per year. The larvae mine needles and overwinter in a mined needle. Later they bore into additional needles and pupate within the last mine.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
It is found in eastern North America.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 25 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Maryland, New York, Tennessee, North Carolina, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Alabama, New Jersey.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
What trees do the pine needleminer moth larvae feed on?
They feed on hard pines like jack pine and pitch pine, mining the needles.
Source: Wikipedia
How many generations does this moth have each year?
It produces one generation per year.
Source: Wikipedia
What do the adult moths look like?
Adults have brownish-yellow forewings with dark speckles and three white bands, and pale gray hindwings.
Source: Wikipedia
How do the larvae develop?
They mine needles, overwinter in a mined needle, then bore into additional needles and pupate inside the last mine.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Gelechiidae)
Angoumois Grain MothSitotroga cerealellaDamages trees, gardens or crops
Black-smudged Chionodes MothChionodes mediofuscella
Inverse and Kimball's Dichomeris MothsDichomeris inversella
Pink-washed Aristotelia MothAristotelia roseosuffusella
White Stripe-backed MothArogalea cristifasciella
Burdock Seedhead MothMetzneria lappellaSources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exoteleia_pinifoliella
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-25 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-25.