Know more

Morphology

Adult: large-sized with wingspan often greater than 30 mm.
Larva: large (> 12 mm) with body long and fine with antennae longer than the mouthpart hooks.
Eggs: all the Nineta lay their eggs in groups which differ with the species:

• N. flava: groups of 15-30 eggs having long pedicels (7-10 mm) and grouped together over more than half their length.
• N. pallida: groups of 5-10 eggs with short pedicels (2.5-4.5 mm) and fused such that the eggs are stuck together.

N. vittata: bouquets and pedicels tangled up.

Biology

All the European species of Nineta have one generation per year.

Habitat

N.pallida is closely dependent on conifers, essentially fir and spruce. The females lay their eggs on the distal part of needles.

All the other species live on deciduous trees, most often tall specimens, on which they lay their eggs on the underside of leaves.