470 FRUIT INSECTS 



areas should be burned in the spring before growth starts to 

 kill the caterpillars, for the vines are ruined anyway and the 

 land may then be replanted at once. The burning can be done 

 most conveniently and safely with a gasoline torch when the 

 vines are damp so there is no danger of the fire spreading. Bogs 

 which are kept well sanded are rarely injured by the girdler. 



References 



Cornell Agr. Exp. Sta. Bull. 64, pp. 75-76. 1894. 

 Scudder, Ins. Life, VII, pp. 1-5. 1894. 

 U. S. Dept. Agr. Farmers' Bull. 178, pp. 21-24. 1903. 

 Mass. Agr. Exp. Sta. Bull. 115, pp. 14-15. 1907. 



The False Army-worm 

 Calocampa nupera Lintner 



Cranberry vines are often seriously injured by the cater- 

 pillar of a curiously marked noctuid moth which has an expanse 

 of about If inches. On the fore wings there is near the center 

 a conspicuous black spot and a V-shaped brownish spot; the 

 apex is yellowish-brown and the hind half is purplish towards 

 the base; the rest of the wing is streaked and banded with 

 white and various shades of brown. The upper part of the 

 head and the front of the thorax are covered with a dense mass of 

 yellowish-brown scales contrasting with the reddish-brown tufts 

 of the thorax. The moths appear in August and September 

 and probably go into hibernation, for we have records of the 

 moths flying in April. The eggs are laid in clusters on the under 

 side of the leaves or on the twigs. The eggs are nearly round, 

 slightly flattened, brownish-gray in color and marked with a 

 series of ridges radiating from the tip. The eggs hatch in 

 late April or early May and the young, light yellow or greenish 

 caterpillars begin feeding on the cranberry buds, often causing 

 a serious loss of blossoms. In the younger caterpillars the two 



