Hosts
Eastern white, Scots and Jack pines as well as white, Norway and Colorado blue spruce.
Pitch Mass Borer
Pathogen Type
Scientific Name
Synanthedon pini
Symptoms
Pine pitch moth adults resemble yellowjackets. The adults are clear wing moths. There are many types of pitch moths.
Large volumes of pitch ooze from the holes made in the trunk by these insects.
Cycle
All are in one genus - Synanthedon sp. Single eggs are laid on the bark of the pines. Larvae of some species tunnel into the cambium area soon after hatching. They make a hole in which they feed. Sap oozes out of these pits/holes. The pitch mass borer (Synanthedon pini) attacks Austrian, eastern white, Scots and Jack pines as well as white, Norway and Colorado blue spruce. Adults are only seen during the summer and the insect can take up to three years to complete its life cycle.
Management
Check with your local land grant university (Cooperative) Extension Service for recommended insecticide.
Credit
James Schuster, retired Extension Specialist, Horticulture & Plant Pathology, and Dr.Philip L. Nixon, Extension Specialist-Entomology, Department of Crop Sciences University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
PathogenID
265
Images
Image
picID
180452