ON THE HABITS OF A JACK PINE NEEDLE-MINER, EUCORDYLEA CANUSELLA (LEPIDOPTERA: GELECHIIDAE), WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO ITS ASSOCIATION WITH A FUNGUS, AUREOBASIDIUM PULLULANS (MANILIALES (DEUTEROMYCETES) DEMATIACEAE)

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Abstract
The unique habits of a jack pine needle-miner, Eucordylea canusella (Free.), are described. It feeds for the greater part of its life on dead or dying needle tissue and on the fungus Aureobasidium pullulans de Bary (Arnaud), which grows within the needle-pair following construction of a mine by the first-instar larva. On reaching maturity, the larvae revert to a more conventional needle-mining behaviour. This habit is unusual in defoliating Lepidoptera although other species in the same, or closely related genera, are also thought to feed upon fungi. The impact of these findings on the taxonomy of Eucordylea spp. is discussed.