O. 110. Issued July 10, 1909. 



SB 



818 



C578 lited States Department of Agriculture, 



j BUREAU OF ENTOMOLOGY, 



L. O. HOWARD, Entomologist and Chief of Bureau. 



ENT 



THE GRE^N-STKIPED MAPJ^E WORM. 



y {Anisota rubicunda F$M..y*' 



By H OC^HowARD and FyH/CniTTENDEN. 



GENERAL APPEARANCE AND METHOD OF AVORK. 



Maple trees grown in the United States for shade or other purpose 

 are subject to severe injuiy from defoliation b}- caterpillars. In ad- 

 dition to the fall webworm'' and tussock moth catei-pillar'^ there is a 

 common and troublesome species known as the green-striped maple 

 worm {Anisota rubicunda) which affects maples of all kinds, including' 

 sugar maple, and is especiall}^ partial to silver and swamp maples. It 

 feeds occasionally also on box-elder and will defoliate oak in the 

 absence of its favorite food trees. 



In its active stage this insect is a naked or hairless caterpillar (tig. 1, 

 d, e) of large size and somewhat attractive appearance, being pale 

 yellowish green, longitudinally striped with dark green. It is armed 

 just back of the head, on the second thoracic segment, with a pair of 

 long black horns. It has also a number of short, black, spin}^ projec- 

 tions along its sides and at its anal extremit}^ The anal segments are 

 somewhat dilated and rose-colored on the sides. When fully grown, 

 it measures nearly two inches in length. 



The parent insect, or moth, is a beautiful creature of a pale yellow 

 color shaded with a most delicate pink. The female is well shown in 

 the accompanying illustration (a), the dark portions representing the 

 pink, and the paler portions the yellow color. In eastern individuals 

 the colors differ from those found in the West, the rose tints being 

 more intense, while in the western forms the yellow predominates, 

 with only a slight tinge of rose. Some western individuals also are 

 nearly white. The female has a wing spread of one and three-fourths 

 to about two inches, and her bod}^ is yellow and woolly in appearance. 

 Her head is small, retracted into the thorax, and bears short, thread- 

 like antennae. The male is smaller than his mate, having plumose or 

 feathery antennae, as represented in the figure {$). 



The Q^g is about one luillimeter in diameter, slightly flattened, and 

 pale green, becoming yellowish before the larva hatches. A portion of 



a Formerly called Dryocampa rubicunda Fab. 



& Hyphantria cunea Dm. 



c flemerocampa {Orgyia) leucodigma Dru. «/ 



87ti75— Cir. 110—09 1 



^o1'^35'f 



