Distribution of eggs and leaf mines of \u3ci\u3eChoristoneura houstonana\u3c/i\u3e (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) attacking eastern red cedar, \u3ci\u3eJuniperus virginiana\u3c/i\u3e

Cedar at Larned, Kansas, appeared to be more severely damaged in the upper and southern portions of the trees. There was a significant difference, in numbers of eggs and leaf mines, between the upper and lower halves and between compass directions; the upper and southern portions of the trees being most highly infested. Choristoneura houstonana (Grote) is a pest of eastern red cedar, Juniperus virginiana, grown as a home landscape ornamental in shelter belts and windbreaks in western Kansas. It has been present for many years but the first reliable record in Kansas was in 1964, when it was sent for identification by Richard Beams, the assistant agricultural agent of Rooks County. Study was begun in 1964. Lindquist and Bowser ( 1966) studying the biology of the leaf miner, Chrysopeleia ostryaella Chambers (Cosmopterygidae), found that the upper portion of the crown of an ironwood tree contained more mines per leaf than the middle and lower portions. Stark (1952) found about twice as many larvae of lodgepole needle miner, Coleotechnites milieu (Busck), in the upper crown than in the lower crown. Prentice (1955) found a significant difference between crown levels infested with larvae of the large aspen tortrix, Choristoneura conflictana, but did not state which level had the most larvae. He reported no significant directional differences in distribution. Eggs of C. houstonana are deposited singly on foliage of the trees in July. The larvae, on hatching, usually spin an entrance cocoon near the egg and begin leaf mining. Larvae continue to mine through late summer and fall. Chorions of hatched eggs remain on the foliage several days before falling off