The Birch Skeletonizer Moth is a tiny moth whose tiny, pale caterpillars mine and then skeletonize the upper surfaces of birch leaves in dense colonies. During irruption years, infestations can give birch forests a silvery, burned appearance from a distance. The distinctive white, ribbed cocoons attached to leaves and bark are often more noticed than the tiny adults.
Habitat
Birch forests of the Northeast and boreal regions
Diet
Larvae: birch leaf tissue. Adults: little or no feeding
How common
Common
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