| Pococera robustella | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Pyralidae |
| Genus: | Pococera |
| Species: | P. robustella |
| Binomial name | |
| Pococera robustella (Zeller, 1848) [1] [2] | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Pococera robustella, the pine webworm moth, is a species of moth of the family Pyralidae. It is found in southern Canada and the eastern United States from Minnesota to New England and south to Florida. [3]
Moths comprise a group of insects related to butterflies, belonging to the order Lepidoptera. Most lepidopterans are moths, and there are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of which have yet to be described. Most species of moth are nocturnal, but there are also crepuscular and diurnal species.
The Pyralidae, commonly called pyralid moths, snout moths or grass moths, are a family of Lepidoptera in the ditrysian superfamily Pyraloidea. In many classifications, the grass moths (Crambidae) are included in the Pyralidae as a subfamily, making the combined group one of the largest families in the Lepidoptera. The latest review by Eugene G. Munroe & Solis, in Kristensen (1999) retains the Crambidae as a full family of Pyraloidea.
Canada is a country in the northern part of North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering 9.98 million square kilometres, making it the world's second-largest country by total area. Canada's southern border with the United States, stretching some 8,891 kilometres (5,525 mi), is the world's longest bi-national land border. Its capital is Ottawa, and its three largest metropolitan areas are Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. As a whole, Canada is sparsely populated, the majority of its land area being dominated by forest and tundra. Consequently, its population is highly urbanized, with over 80 percent of its inhabitants concentrated in large and medium-sized cities, with 70% of citizens residing within 100 kilometres (62 mi) of the southern border. Canada's climate varies widely across its vast area, ranging from arctic weather in the north, to hot summers in the southern regions, with four distinct seasons.
The wingspan is 22–25 mm. Adults are grey to brownish. The basal third of the forewing is dark grey to black, while the rest of the forewing pale grey, becoming darker grey toward the outer half. The hindwings are brown with darker shading toward the outer margin. [4] The number of generations per year varies from three in north-eastern Florida to one in the northern part of the range. In Florida, adults are on wing from April to October.
The wingspan of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777-200 has a wingspan of 60.93 metres, and a wandering albatross caught in 1965 had a wingspan of 3.63 metres, the official record for a living bird. The term wingspan, more technically extent, is also used for other winged animals such as pterosaurs, bats, insects, etc., and other fixed-wing aircraft such as ornithopters. In humans, the term wingspan also refers to the arm span, which is distance between the length from one end of an individual's arms to the other when raised parallel to the ground at shoulder height at a 90º angle. Former professional basketball player Manute Bol stands at 7 ft 7 in (2.31 m) and owns one of the largest wingspans at 8 ft 6 in (2.59 m).
The larvae feed on the needles of various Pinus species. Young larvae mine the needles of their host plant. Later, they spin a nest of silk webbing and frass. They gather needles from around their nest and bring them back to the nest to eat. The web is occupied by several larvae. The larvae are light brown with darker longitudinal stripes and a light brown head with black pigmented markings.
Frass refers loosely to the more or less solid excreta of insects, and to certain other related matter.
