the bog and surrounding upland, hidden in the vines or other shelter, but fly 

 on warm days. They lay during April. The eggs look like those of the black' 

 headed fireworm and are laid singly, mostly on the backs of the leaves. They 

 hatch during the first half of May. 



Newly hatched worms of the first brood usually have dark heads but they 

 soon change and commonly are distinguished from the black-headed fireworms by 

 the yellow color of the head. The body is pale yellowish. The mature worms 

 are about half an inch long (fig. 11). They pupate in silken cells among the 

 webbed uprights, mostly early in June. 



The pupa is light brown at first, but it grows blackish as the moth develops. 

 It is from a quarter to nearly a third of an inch long and has a prominent 

 and distinctive knob at its head end (fig. 12). 



The summer moths appear late in June and fly about three weeks. They 

 are clear orange (Plate One, fig. 5), but otherwise like those of the winter 

 brood. They may be flushed up in clouds on badly infested bogs. They lay 

 eggs during most of their flight and generally disappear about July 10. The 

 eggs usually begin to hatch about July 8 to 10. The worms continue to appear 

 for some time and develop more slowly than the first brood, some of them not 

 maturing till September. They pupate like the first brood, the pupal stage lasting 

 about a month, and the gray winter moths appear in September and October. 



Treatment 



FLOODING 



Complete winter flooding, especially if the water is held into May, is a sure 

 control. 



SPRAYING 



Spraying with 6 pounds of dry lead arsenate in 100 gallons of water, 300 gal- 

 lons to an acre, is very effective. It should be done for the first brood about 

 May 22, and for the second brood about July 12. The first-brood treatment 

 will check the gypsy moth also if that insect threatens. A single spraying, 

 well timed for either brood, should be enough for a season, for the parasites of 

 this pest generally need only occasional help to keep it down. 



The moths may be killed early in April with a spray of 1 quart of 40 percent 

 nicotine sulfate and 4 pounds of fish-oil soap in 100 gallons of water. This 

 treatment is advisable if there is no prospect of much gypsy moth infestation, 

 for it will save spraying in the growing season, with its mechanical injury to the 

 vines. 



Red-striped Fireworm. ^^ 



This insect never infests bogs that are flooded completely all winter. It is 

 less important than either of the fireworms already discussed, but it occasionally 

 develops a severe infestation on a dry bog. It sometimes works with the yellow- 

 headed fireworm. 



Distribution and Food Plants 



This New Jersey and Massachusetts pest has not been recorded as harming 

 bogs elsewhere. It ranges from Maine and Quebec to Virginia and western Texas. 

 Swamp blueberry and dwarf blueberry are its favorite food plants. They usually 

 harbor large numbers of the worms in the fall everywhere in the eastern part 

 of the State. It also attacks deerberry, low blueberry, dangleberry, black huckle- 

 berry, dwarf huckleberry, male berry, fetter bush, leather leaf, and trailing arbutus. 



Character of Injury 

 Some of the newly hatched worms go directly to the tips of the new growth. 



^ Aroga trialbamaculella (Cham.). 



[12] 



