Zimmerman Pine Moth

Dioryctria zimmermani · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Pyralidae

Damages trees, gardens or crops. It is a serious pest of pine trees in the mid-west United States.

Source: Wikipedia

Zimmerman Pine Moth
Photo: Annika Lindqvist, CC BY

Adults have a wingspan of about 37 mm and show mottled gray-red forewings with zigzag light and dark marks, while the hindwings are yellowish-white. Full-grown larvae measure 18 to 25 mm and feed mainly on Austrian and Scotch pine, causing serious damage in the mid-west. The moth occurs in southern Canada, the northeastern and Great Lakes regions of the United States, with an isolated population in eastern Nebraska.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

Hindwings are yellowish white.

Source: Wikipedia

Size

The adult wingspan is about 37 mm.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it lives

A separate population exists in eastern Nebraska.

Source: Wikipedia

What it eats

Larvae feed on various pine species, preferring Austrian and Scotch pine.

Source: Wikipedia

Life cycle

The species produces one generation each year.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it comes from

Its native range includes southern Canada and the northeastern and Great Lakes regions of the United States. There is also a disjunct native population in eastern Nebraska.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 30 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Vermont, Michigan, Massachusetts, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Wisconsin.

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

Source: GBIF

Status: native in North America; native in United States. Source: iNaturalist

Months it is reported in the US

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Source: GBIF

More photos

Zimmerman Pine Moth photo 2
Photo: iNaturalist user, CC0
Zimmerman Pine Moth photo 3
Photo: Djibo Zanzot, CC BY-SA
Zimmerman Pine Moth photo 4
Photo: Annika Lindqvist, CC BY
Zimmerman Pine Moth photo 5
Photo: Laura Gaudette, CC BY

Questions people ask

How large are adult Dioryctria zimmermani?

Adults have a wingspan of about 37 mm.

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_zimmermani

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.

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.