Cinara pinea

Cinara pinea

Description

Apterae of Cinara pinea are shiny orange-brown early in the year and grey or dark brown later on. The body is finely spotted with black and dusted with wax especially along the dorsal midline and laterally. The spots are black scleroite plates at the base of many of the hairs and they are irregular, often confluent and of varying size. Siphuncular cones are small to medium sized and reddish-brown or dark brown. The body size of Cinara pinea apterae is unusually large at 3.1 to 5.2 mm. The alate Cinara pinea has pronounced wax spots along the centre line of the dorsum, and the size and number of the dorsal scleroites are often reduced.

Identification difficulty
Recording advice

Unless identified by a recognised expert, a photo is required. If the photo doesn't show the key ID features then in the comments box describe the size and identifying characters you have observed.

Habitat

Cinara pinea are found on young trees and new shoots of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) although sometimes on other pine species including Corsican pine (Pinus nigra) in dry areas.

When to see it

May to October.

Life History

Cinara pinea overwinters as eggs on the current year's needles of Scots pine. The freshly laid eggs are yellow brown but soon change to shiny black.

UK Status

True status of this species in Britain is difficult to determine due to lack of records.

VC55 Status

Status in Leicestershire and Rutland not known.

Leicestershire & Rutland Map

MAP KEY:

Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
Coloured circles = NatureSpot records: 2025+ | 2020-2024 | pre-2020

UK Map

Additional images

All NatureSpot records