Two year cycle Spruce Budworm is a defoliator found in the interior in sub alpine and boreal forests. It attacks white spruce and engelmann spruce as well as subalpine fir (also known as balsam)
The latin name for the Spruce Budworm is Choristoneura fumiferiana.
The young larvae eat the needles and the buds in the spring and early summer and they feed on the new growth after the buds have flushed. As the larvae grow they continue to feed on the new foliage but will also eat the older foilage if they deplete the new foilage.
If significant damage is done to immature trees or suppressed trees from successive years of defoliation, it can result in tree mortality.
For more information on the spruce bud worm a handy field reference guide can be found here:https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/farming-natural-resources-and-industry/forestry/forest-health/forest-health-docs/field_guide_to_forest_damage_in_bc_web.pdf
All hides for this Spruce Geo Art Series are camoed pill bottles or bison tubes. Each container contains a logsheet sealed in a tiny zip lock bag. Please bring your own pencil. This cache is not hidden at the posted coordinates, however all the information you need is on this cache page.
Photo Credit: Maturing spruce budworm image from the Field Guide to Pests of Managed Forests in British Columbia Joint Report No. 16 - Forest Insect and Disease Survey, Forestry Canada, Pacific Foresrty Center- Figure 26 page 24.
North 53 39.228 West 122 57.647
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