464 FRUIT INSECTS 



Cranberry Span-worm 

 Cleora pampinaria Gueiiee 



Cranberry vines are usually infested to a slight extent by 

 various kinds of span-worms or measuring worms, also known 

 as loopers. The most important of these, and one which is 

 sometimes abundant enough to cause serious injury locally is 

 the present species. The caterpillars appear in the bogs in 

 June and become full-grown in early July. They are over an 

 inch in length, slender, smooth and vary in color from mottled 

 pale yellowish to brown. When full-grown the caterpillars 

 bury themselves a short distance in the sand and transform 

 to rough brown pupae. The pale ash gray moths emerge in a 

 few days and lay eggs for a second brood of caterpillars, which 

 mature in August. The moths have an expanse of one and 

 one half inches and have the wings sprinkled with black and 

 crossed with diagonal toothed or scalloped blackish lines. 



The first brood of caterpillars are usually found working 

 along the edge of the bogs ; those of the second brood are more 

 evenly distributed. When abundant they strip the vines of 

 their leaves and make the bog look as though swept by fire. 

 They may be destroyed by spraying with arsenicals, as suggested 

 under black-headed cranberry worms. 



References 



U. S. Farm. Bull. 178, p. 19. 1903. 

 U. S. Bur. Ent. Bull. 66, Pt. III. 1907. 



Another span-worm, Cymatophora sulphurea Packard, some- 

 times becomes destructive in Massachusetts. The caterpillars 

 of the first brood attack the cranberry vines just as they begin 

 to put out new foliage. They not only eat the leaves, but also 

 destroy the buds. The full-grown caterpillar is less than an 

 inch in length and pale green in color, with a narrow cream 



