Winter-feeding
Guides
Nepytia janetae
Nepytia janetae is a geometrid moth species that has transitioned from an innocuous, poorly studied insect to a significant forest pest in the southwestern United States. Since 1996, four major outbreaks have caused extensive defoliation and mortality of conifer trees across tens of thousands of acres in Arizona and New Mexico mountain ranges. The species exhibits an unusual life history as a univoltine, autumn- and winter-feeding looper at high elevations where temperatures regularly approach or fall below 0°F. Outbreaks appear associated with reduced snowpack, though the precise climatic mechanisms remain unclear.
Nepytia janetae
Janeta's looper moth
Nepytia janetae is a geometrid moth in the family Geometridae native to southwestern United States mountain ranges. Prior to 1996, it was an inconspicuous species with little ecological impact. Since 1996, four major outbreaks have caused extensive defoliation of conifer forests across Arizona and New Mexico, killing tens of thousands of acres of trees. The species exhibits an unusual winter-feeding larval stage, active when minimum temperatures approach or drop below 0°F. Outbreak termination occurs primarily through parasitism, viral infection, larval starvation, and occasionally heavy rain during egg deposition.