Amyelois transitella
El Paso County, Texas
On January 25, 2011, I received a pecan nut, with a hole in it, which a grower had found in his orchard and suspected to be infested with pecan weevil. I cracked it open and found a moth pupa, I placed the nut in a rearing cage. On May 8, 2011, there were four moths on the rearing cage walls. Bill Ree and Mark Muegge determined the species as the navel orangeworm, Amyelois transitella. Bill Ree said that El Paso pecan growers should not be worried about this insect because the navel orangeworm cannot enter a pecan nut unless there is a crack in the shell.