BAKER CITY, Ore. (AP) — The pine butterfly is in the middle of one of its occasional population surges in eastern Oregon.
The larvae of the small white butterflies can harm trees, but officials told the Baker City Herald their outbreaks are usually short-lived.
The butterflies deposit masses of eggs in pine trees, and when the caterpillars emerge they start munching needles.
The butterfly can affect each of the three pine species common in eastern Oregon — ponderosa, lodgepole and whitebark.