CAPE COD CRANBERRY INSECTS 45 



Distribution and Food Plants. 



The insect ranges from Canada to Florida and Missouri. It feeds on apple, 

 clematis, cranberry, false dandelion, hickory, maple, pear, live oak, and white 

 oak. 



Description and Seasonal History. 



This species winters as a pupa. The moths emerge late in May and soon 

 lay their eggs. These hatch toward mid-June. The worms mature and pupate 

 in July. There is but one brood a year. 



The Egy. 



The eggs are laid in clusters, often of as many as 432. They are green at 

 first but turn reddish, then black — the last color only two or three days before 

 hatching. 



The Worm. 



The caterpillars are almost black at first, but as they grow they become 

 chocolate brown. The mature worm (Plate Three, fig. 9) is fully two and a 

 half inches long. Most of its surface is very smooth. A noticeable dark 

 ridge bearing a few low tubercles crosses the back opposite the second pair 

 of legs. The back in front of this ridge and the head are lighter brown than 

 most of the body. The under side between the legs at the hind end is lighter 

 still. The spiracles are yellow, rimmed with black. On the back there are a 

 pair of noticeable tubercles somewhat behind the middle and a moderate 

 double tubercle toward the hind end. The top of the head is rounded and 

 not much indented. 



The Pupa. 



The pupa (Plate Three, fig. 10) is somewhat over three-fourths of an inch 

 long and a fourth of an inch thick. It is coffee brown and, with the excep- 

 tion of the wing cases, has an irregular sprinkling of dark brown. The spir- 

 acles and their surroundings appear as consp^uous black spots along the sides. 

 The surface is dull and rough. This pupa never gets hard and firm as most 

 pupae do, but always yields to the touch. 



The Moth. 



The moth (Plate Three, fig. 11) is light gray, dully variegated with rusty 

 brown. The wings, the abdomen and the legs are sprinkled lightly with black 

 scales. The thorax is whitish beneath and pale brown above. The head is 

 ligiit rusty brown, with the top between the bases of the feelers pure white. 



The wings spread about two inches. Their outer edges are irregular and 

 the tips of the front ones are sharp-pointed. A nearly straight line running 

 from near the tip of each fore wing diagonally across its upper surface to 

 the hind margin is whitish on the outer side and brown on the side toward 

 the body. A similar line runs part way across the upper surface of each hind 

 wing from beyond the middle of the hind margin. All the wings have a con- 

 spicuous dark brown speck somewhat back from the middle of the front mar- 

 gin on each surface. 



