80 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS [Mar., '22 



The Juniper Webworm, Ypsolophus marginellus 

 Fabr. (Lepid., Gelechiidae). 



By HARRY B. WEISS and RALPH B. LOTT, New Brunswick, 



New Jersey. 



This European species was first recorded as occurring in 

 America by Dr. E. P. Felt in the 26th Report of the State 

 Entomologist of New York 1 where it is mentioned as having 

 been collected at Tarrytown and Plandome, N. Y., the larva 

 feeding on juniper. Smith in his New Jersey list 2 mentions 

 the species but gives no localities. Britton 3 states that it occurs 

 in Connecticut, giving Hartford, Meriden, Greenwich and 

 \Yilton as localities. In all cases, juniper is the recorded food 

 plant. 



During the past several years, this species has been increas- 

 ing in several places in New Jersey and doing noticeable dam- 

 age. At present it is known definitely to occur at Rutherford, 

 Scotch Plains. Springfield and New Brunswick, principally in 

 nurseries. The larval feeding appears to be confined to the 

 foliage of Jnnipcnis coinuiitiiis and such varieties as anrca, 

 horizontalis, dcprcssa, hibcrnica, etc. Overwintering takes 

 place in a partly grown larval condition, one-half to almost full- 

 grown caterpillars hibernating in the webbed-up foliage. In 

 the northern half of New Jersey, the caterpillars become active 

 early in May, feeding on the more or less dry leaves and 

 becoming full grown and pupating in numbers from the middle 

 of May on. Pupation takes place in whitish, silken cases found 

 among the partly eaten and webbed-up needles. The first 

 moths issue about the last of May or first of June after a 

 pupation period of about fifteen days. On account of the 

 difference in size of the hibernating larvae, the moths appear 

 over a period of several weeks, the majority however emerging 

 about the middle of June. At this time they can be noted in 

 the field, flying in irregular dashes from one juniper to another 

 if disturbed. 



Eggs are deposited singly and can be found in numbers dur- 

 ing the third week of June. As a rule they are laid on the new 



!Mus. Bull. 147, p. 35. 1'MO (Diclmincris). 

 -Kept. N. J. State Mus. 1909 (Dichomeris) . 

 3 15th Kept. State Ent. Conn. p. 137, 1915 (Dichomeris) . 



