Ottawa (Dunrobin), ON Canada

7 June 2003   12:02AM EST  (top left and right)
4 June 2003   8:45PM EST  (center left and right)
27 May 2006   12:06AM EST  (bottom left)
28 May 2006   9:21PM EST  (bottom right)
The pair of photos at the top is of one specimen, as is the pair of photos in the center.

Eucosma tocullionana is one of about a dozen species of Eucosma that have been recorded from the Ottawa area (J.D. Lafontaine, pers. comm., 2001).  My initial identification of Eucosma tocullionana was based on Internet resources; subsequently, Dr. Jean-François Landry of Agriculture Canada confirmed the identity of a specimen that was collected and given to the Canadian National Collection in Ottawa, and also included in the Leps Barcode of Life project of the Biodiversity Institute of Ontario at the University of Guelph.  Some additional information on this species has been gleaned from Forbes, William T.M., The Lepidoptera of New York and Neighboring States, Primitive Forms, Microlepidoptera, Pyraloids, Bombyces (Ithaca, New York: Cornell University, 1923).

The ground color of the forewing of Eucosma tocullionana is described by Forbes (1923) as smoky violet-gray, but in the specimens I have photographed it appears more brownish, incorporating varying quantities of blackish scales in fresh specimens.  The most prominent markings are bands of ochre-yellow, edged with silvery gray, that cross the wing in the median and in the outer third, occasionally interrupted by the ground color partway across the wing.  There are also several partial bands evident at the costa and in the upper half of the wing. The fringe is dark gray, barred with white near the apex and near the anal angle. The hindwing is dark brownish gray.  The head is yellowish cream; the thorax is rust-colored with a dark brown tuft at the posterior end.  Forbes (1923) indicates a wingspan of 15 to 18 mm.

The Eucosmini tribe includes a number of similar species, and care should be taken in making identifications based on photographs.

According to Internet resources, the larva of Eucosma tocullionana, known as the White Pine Cone Borer, bores in the cones of eastern white pine.  Forbes (1923) refers to the adult moth emerging in May but makes no other comment as to flight season.

My records to date for Eucosma tocullionana (each date representing "the night of") are in the table below: