Xyela davidsmithi Blank and Kramp sp. n. is described from the Sierra Nevada of California. Morphological characters place it into the X. alpigena group. Unlike other members of this group, whose larvae feed inside staminate cones of species of Pinus (Strobus), larvae of X. davidsmithi identified by COI barcoding have been extracted from staminate cones of P. (Pinus) jeffreyi. Field observations on imagines of X. brunneiceps Rohwer, 1913 indicate that this species is oligophagous on P. (S.) flexilis in Colorado and on P. (S.) strobiformis in Arizona. A key to the Nearctic species of the X. alpigena group is provided.