Editing Winter moth (section)

==Life cycle==
[[File:Operophtera brumata (caterpillar) focus stacking-20230508-RM-131624.jpg|thumb|right|225px|Caterpillar will reach length of about 0.75 inches]]
Winter moth larvae ([[caterpillar]]s) emerge in early spring from egg masses laid near leaf buds after a series of days in which the daytime high temperatures reach around 10&nbsp;°C (50&nbsp;°F).<ref name=Umass2/> Recently hatched larvae feed on expanding leaf buds, often after having burrowed inside the bud, and later on foliage, for approximately six weeks. In addition to feeding on the tree where they hatched, young larvae will also produce silk strands to 'balloon' (be wind-blown) to other trees.<ref name="UnivMaine" /> By mid-May the larvae, green in color and about an inch long, descend to the ground. Very little mortality due to disease has been noted in winter moth larvae in North America.<ref name="Broadley et al. 2017">{{cite journal|last1=Broadley|first1=H.J.|last2=Boucher|first2=M.|last3=Burand|first3=J.P.|last4=Elkinton|first4=J.S.|date=2017|title=The phylogenetic relationship and cross-infection of nucleopolyhedroviruses between the invasive winter moth (''Operophtera brumata'') and its native congener, Bruce spanworm (''O. bruceata'')|journal=Journal of Invertebrate Pathology|volume=142|pages=61–68|doi=10.1016/j.jip.2016.11.016|pmid=27916614|doi-access=free|bibcode=2017JInvP.143...61B }}</ref><ref name="Donahue et al. 2018">{{cite journal|last1=Donahue|first1=K.L.|last2=Broadley|first2=H.J.|last3=Elkinton|first3=J.S.|last4=Burand|first4=J.P.|last5=Huang|first5=W.F.|last6=Andersen|first6=J.C.|date=2018|title=Using the SSU, ITS, and Ribosomal DNA Operon Arrangement to Characterize Two Microsporidia Infecting Bruce spanworm, ''Operophtera bruceata'' (Lepidoptera: Geometridae)|journal=Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology|volume=66|issue=3|pages=424–434|doi=10.1111/jeu.12685|pmid=30136341|doi-access=free}}</ref>

Pupation occurs in the soil in late May.<ref name="Simmons" /> Adults emerge from the soil in mid-late November. The female winter moths are flightless but release a sex pheromone to attract males.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|date=2015-03-06|title=Winter Moth Identification & Management|url=https://ag.umass.edu/landscape/fact-sheets/winter-moth-identification-management|access-date=2021-12-06|website=Center for Agriculture, Food, and the Environment|language=en}}</ref> After mating, the female lays between 150 and 350 tiny eggs in bark crevices, on branches, in lichen, and under bark scales.<ref name=Simmons/><ref name=":0" /> With such a long pupal period, the winter moth is vulnerable to numerous pupal predators and parasitoids.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Roland|first1=J.|last2=Embree|first2=D.G.|year=1995|title=Biological control of the winter moth.|journal=Annual Review of Entomology|volume=40|pages=475–492|doi=10.1146/annurev.en.40.010195.002355}}</ref><ref>{{cite thesis|last1=Broadley|first1=Hannah|date=January 2018|title=Impact of native natural enemies on populations of the invasive winter moth, (''Operophtera brumata'' L) in the northeast United States|url=https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_2/1327/|journal=Doctoral Dissertations| doi=10.7275/12760419 |access-date=29 December 2018}}</ref>

Research conducted in the Netherlands indicated that as climate warming is causing spring temperatures to become warmer sooner, some of the winter moth eggs were hatching before tree leaf buds – first food for the caterpillars – had begun to open. Early hatchlings starved. Late hatchlings survived. Because hatch timing is genetically controlled, the moths are evolving to resynchronize with bud opening by delaying the response to the temperature trigger by 5 to 10 days.<ref name="Netherlands">[https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/06/070619174647.htm Winter Moth Proves Able To Adjust To Climate Change.] Netherlands Institute of Ecology (2007).</ref> The larvae, like the adults, can withstand below freezing temperatures at night. Larval dispersal is the dominant source of density-dependent larval mortality and likely regulates high density population dynamics of winter moth in New England.<ref name="Pepi et al 2016">{{cite journal |last1=Pepi |first1=Adam |last2=Broadley |first2=Hannah |last3=Elkinton |first3=Joseph |title=Density‑dependent effects of larval dispersal mediated by host plant quality on populations of an invasive insect |journal=Oecologia |date=2016 |volume=182 |issue=2 |pages=499–509 |doi=10.1007/s00442-016-3689-z|pmid=27378097 |bibcode=2016Oecol.182..499P |s2cid=24424176 }}</ref> Larvae prefer [[oak]] and [[apple]], but also feed on [[maple]], [[birch]], [[hornbeam]], [[chestnut]], [[hazel]], [[quince]], [[beech]], [[larch]], [[Populus|poplar]], [[cherry]], [[pear]], [[rose]], [[raspberry]], [[blueberry]], [[willow]], [[elm]], and other leafy trees and shrubs.<ref name="Umass2" /><ref name="UnivMaine" />