Egg laying begins soon after adult emergence. The temperature greatly influences the incubation period. After the larvae hatch they begin to feed on new shoots near the base of the needles or the base of the buds. A protective web is spun over their bodies while they feed. When the larvae have completed their development, a cocoon is spun in the hollowed out shoot tip and pupation occurs within.
Winter is passed as pupae within the injured tips.
Two to four generations occur per year in Georgia. Figure 21 - Repeated tip moth attacks cause undesirable bushing in seedlings. The subtropical pine tip moth is found in south Georgia on slash pine. Control of the Nantucket pine tip moth in Christmas tree plantations and in newly established seed orchard plantings is best achieved by deploying pheromone baited traps. These traps help determine moth emergence so that insecticide applications will coincide with egg laying and larval hatching.