INSECTS INJURIOUS TO CABBAGE, ETC. 



327 



The Cabbage Looper * 



Next to the imported cabbage worm the looper is probably 

 the most serious pest of cabbage and closely resembles it in the 

 way it strips the foliage. f The name " looper " is derived from 

 its " looping " habit of walking like a measuring worm, due to the 

 absence of legs on the third and fourth abdominal segments. The 

 larvae are pale to dark green in color, marked with several 

 longitudinal white lines, as shown in Fig. 277, which become 

 obscure as they become full grown, so that they might be easily 

 mistaken for the com- 

 mon cabbage worms 

 were it not for the 

 looping gait. The 

 species occurs 

 throughout the ter- 

 ritory east of the 

 Rockies, but is much 

 more commonly in- 

 jurious in the Middle 

 and Southern States. 

 Although cabbage and 

 cauliflower are the fa- 

 vorite food plants, it 

 attacks all of the cru- 

 ciferous crops, is fre- 

 quently injurious to 

 lettuce, peas, celery 

 and beets, and has FIG. 277. The cabbage looper (Autographa bras- 

 hppn fnnnrl nnnn miifp sicoe Rne y) : a > male moth; 6, egg from above 



been found upoiqui and ^ rom gide; ^ full grown Jarvft in natural 

 a list of cultivated position feeding; d, pupa in cocoon a, c, d, 

 prnn* and various one-third larger than natural size, 6, more 

 crops ana vari( enlarged. (After Howard and Chittenden, 



weeds. U. S. Dept. Agr ) 



Life History. The life history has not been carefully observed, 

 but it seems probable that the winter is passed in the pupa stage 

 in the old leaves, stumps and rubbish of the cabbage field. Sirrine 



* Autographa brassicce Riley. Family Noctuidoe. See F. H. Chittenden, 

 Bulletin 33, n. s., Div. Ent., U. S Dept. Agr.; F. A Sirrine Bulletin 144, 

 N. Y. Agr. Exp. Sta. 

 | See also page 324 



