Maple shoot moth
45 host plants
Last updated
Data Coverage 1 of 6 dimensions
You will see dead or wilted shoot tips with brown leaves in April and May on young maple trees. Flagging, or drooping affected shoots, becomes visible as larvae burrow through terminals. Mature larvae are pale with dark brown heads. Adult moths are dark olive-green with yellow and gray mottling and appear from mid-March through May. Damage is most obvious on nursery stock and newly planted trees.
Remove flagged twigs below the mined portion and destroy them, killing larvae inside. Handpick affected shoots on valuable trees before twig death becomes severe. Time preventive sprays for late March when adult moths lay eggs near budbreak. Encourage parasitic wasps that attack larvae.
Quick Reference
Host Plants
45
Cultural Controls
Host Plants (45)
Acer buergerianum Trident Maple, Three-toothed Maple Acer campestre Hedge Maple, Field Maple, Common Maple Acer capillipes Red Stripebark Maple, Red Snakebark Maple, Hakkoda Maple Acer carpinifolium Hornbeam Maple Acer circinatum Vine, Maple Acer coriaceifolium Leatherleaf Maple Acer crataegifolium Hawthorn, Maple Acer davidii David Maple, Père David's Maple Acer freemanii Freeman Maple, Hybrid Red Maple Acer ginnala Acer ginnala Acer glabrum Rocky Mountain Maple, Rock Maple, Douglas Maple, Dwarf Maple Acer glabrum var. douglasii Douglas Maple, Dwarf Maple, Rocky Mountain Maple Acer grandidentatum Bigtooth Maple, Western Mountain Sugar Maple, Rocky Mountain Sugar Maple Acer griseum Paperbark Maple Acer henryi Henry's Maple Acer japonicum Fullmoon Maple Acer macrophyllum Bigleaf Maple Acer maximowiczianum Nikko Maple Acer miyabei Miyabe Maple Acer monspessulanum Montpellier Maple Acer negundo Boxelder Manitoba Maple, Ash-leaved Maple Acer nipponicum Nippon Maple Acer oblongum Evergreen Maple, Smooth Leaf Maple Acer oliverianum Oliver Maple Acer opalus subsp. obtusatum Bosnian Maple Acer palmatum Japanese Maple Acer palmatum var. dissectum Dissected Japanese Maple Acer pensylvanicum Striped Maple, Moosewood Maple Acer pentaphyllum Acer pentaphyllum (no common name) Acer pictum Painted Maple Acer platanoides Norway Maple Acer pseudoplatanus Planetree Maple, Sycamore, Maple Acer rubrum Red Maple Acer rufinerve Redvein Maple, Honshu Maple Acer saccharinum Silver Maple Acer saccharum Sugar Maple Acer sempervirens Cretan Maple Acer shirasawanum Shirasawa Maple Acer spicatum Mountain Maple, Moose Maple Acer tataricum Tatarian Maple, Tartarian Maple Acer tataricum subsp. ginnala Amur Maple Acer tegmentosum Manchurian Stripebark Maple, Manchustriped Maple Acer triflorum Three Flowered Maple Acer truncatum Purpleblow Maple, Shantung Maple Acer velutinum Velvet Maple