CRANBERRY INSECT PROBLEMS. 



is protected fairly well from its natural 

 enemies. At this period a very good 

 idea may be had of the acreage infested 

 and the abundance of the Avorms. 



Destruction of the terminal buds by 

 the first brood causes a shortage of the 

 crop and on many bogs the shortage 

 amounts to practically the total crop of 

 the area badly infested. First-brood 

 feeding causes some browning of the 

 foliage and a temporary checking of 

 growth, but before the second brood 

 appears the vines will put forth a 

 considerable amount of fresh, green 

 foliage. 



Second-brood w^orms appear in July 

 and attack the new foliage as well as 

 many of the leaves of the previous sea- 

 son, webbing them up so as to include 

 in some cases several uprights. (Fig. 

 3.) In addition these worms eat blos- 

 soms and bore into many of the newly 

 developed berries. The work of this brood gives to the bog a burnt 

 appearance. 



In late summer the vines again start to grow, some of the up- 

 rights producing buds that will fruit the folloAving season, but the 

 crop from these is likely to be a short one. Many of the chewed 

 and skeletonized leaves drop from the vines, leaving the uprights 

 bare except for some late growth at the tip. 



Fio. 2. — B 1 a f k h e a d fireworm : 

 Cranbei'i-y tips wcbl)LHl liy first 

 brood of larva'. 



Description and Seasonal History. 



i 



This insect passes the winter in the egg stage. In July and Au- 

 gust the moths place the eggs on the underside, rarely on the upper 

 side of the cranberry leaves. For the most part the eggs are de- 

 posited fairly close to the ground, frequently on leaves springing 

 from delicate and spindling uprights deep within the vines. The 

 egg is flattened, disklike, yellow, and about one thirty-second of an 

 inch in greatest diameter. 



Hatching may take place in the following spring as early as April 

 20 on dry bogs, on vines exposed above the winter flowage, or on 

 vines submerged in shallow water. If the winter flowage is removed 

 May 10, eggs will be found hatching from that date until the latter 



