Cone and seed insects, also called conophytes, include a variety of moths, flies, bugs, and beetles. Destruction of forest seeds may be caused by insects that attack the buds, flowers, immature cones, and the seeds themselves. Because flower and seed production by forest trees varies dramatically from year to year and by location, so do impacts caused by cone and seed insects. In general, cone and seed insects are relatively unimportant under forest conditions as the amount of seed produced by forest trees usually far exceeds the number of seeds destroyed by these insects. However, they can have economic impacts to seed orchards in which seed production is limited. They can also impact natural regeneration of white pines that are being severely impacted by white pine blister rust. The most injurious groups of cone and seed insects in the Southwest are the seed moths and coneworms (Lepidoptera), seed worms and midges (Diptera), and cone beetles (Coleoptera).

References:  5, 23, 36, 47, 87