Exoteleia dodecella

"Pine bud moth" redirects here. For the other moth with this common name, see Blastesthia turionella.

Exoteleia dodecella, the pine bud moth, is a moth of the family Gelechiidae. It is widely distributed from western Europe to Siberia. It is an introduced species in North America.^[2]

Exoteleia dodecella
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Gelechiidae
Genus:	Exoteleia
Species:	E. dodecella
Binomial name
Exoteleia dodecella (Linnaeus, 1758)[1]
Synonyms
Phalaena (Tinea) dodecella Linnaeus, 1758 Teleia dodecella Tinea punctulata Fourcroy, 1758 Phalaena duodecimcristata Retzius, 1783 Recurvaria dodecea Haworth, 1828 Anacampsis annulicornis Stephens, 1834 Gelechia favillaticella Zeller, 1839 Phalaena reussiella Ratzeburg, 1840

The wingspan is 9–15 mm.^[3] The head is grey, face whitish. Terminal joint of palpi as long as second. Forewings are whitish, densely irrorated with dark fuscous, appearing grey; indistinct broad darker fasciae at 1/3 and 2/3 a black basal dot, and a dash beneath costa at 1/4; two black dots transversely placed in disc at 1/4; stigmata black, first discal above plical, another black dot below second discal; a fine indistinct whitish interrupted fascia at 3/4 : on undersurface a longitudinal patch of thinly set erect scales in disc. Hindwings 1, grey. The larva is brownish-flesh colour; dots black; head black-brown.^[4][5][6][7]

Adults are on wing from June to July.^[8]

The larvae feed on Larix europaeus, Pinus mugo and Pinus sylvestris. Young larvae mine the needles of their host plant.^[9] Mining larvae can be found from September to March.