The eggs are irregularly ellipsoid and about a fortieth of an inch long. They 

 are very plastic and pearl white when laid, but turn pinkish or yellowish be' 

 fore hatching. They usually are wedged in between the vine and the petiole 

 or the base of the blade of a leaf (fig. 18), or are placed among the bracts of 

 an opening terminal bud, but are deposited also under loose bark. They usually 

 hatch from mid-June to mid'August, the egg stage lasting about sixteen days in 

 early June and about nine in late July. 



THE WORM 



The newly hatched larva is pale greenish yellow, with the head and cervical 

 shield brown. As it grows, its head becomes yellowish, and dull reddish lines 

 appear running the length of the back and sides. The mature worm (fig. 19) 

 is fully three'cighths of an inch long and is more slender and agile than other 

 fireworms. 



All the worms that hatch in June pupate in their nests after mid-July, the 

 moths emerging at the end of July and early in August. Most of those that hatch 

 after the first of July continue as worms till the following May as already noted. 

 The insect is therefore partly one-brooded and partly two-brooded. 



Treatment 

 A spray of 1 1/3 quarts of nicotine sulfate and 4 pounds of fish-oil soap in 

 100 gallons of water, applied 400 gallons to the acre about August 6, eradicates 

 this pest. 



Hill Fireworm ^^ 



Considerable outbreaks of this pest are not rare. They seem to occur always 

 on bogs that have been flooded during the winter. The worms in most cases attack 

 vines in the hills of new plantings for a year or two after they are set. Some- 

 times they seriously infest old, heavily vined areas, and such infestations continue 

 year after year unless they are treated effectively. 



Distribution and Food Plants 

 This species ranges from Canada to Florida but is more common in the South. 

 It has been reported as attacking cranberries only in Massachusetts and Rhode 

 Island. It also feeds on the foliage of the swamp blueberry. 



Character of Injury 



The young worms often begin their work by channeling the cranberry stems 

 towards and to the tips, so causing them to drop over. Some of them sew up cran- 

 berry tips like other kinds of fireworms, but include more frass. As they grow, 

 they often completely defoliate the hills of new plantings, leaving a thick mass 

 of their frass and dropped leaves on the sand around the base of the plants. 

 One to three worms work on a hill, and they make very extensive loose tubes of 

 silk and frass, producing these materials in remarkable abundance and incorporat- 

 ing sand freely with them on and near the ground. These tubes (fig. F) are 

 formed mainly on and around the lower parts of the plants, and the worms hide 

 and work in them. Runners on the sand between the hills are also attacked at 

 times. 



The worms are sometimes found abundant in the thicker clusters of vines of 

 a heavily vined bog, mostly in their tubes of silk and frass, well down among 

 the vines but in a zone three to six inches above the bog floor. They may do 

 rather serious damage there by devouring the under leaves and blossoms. 



Description and Seasonal History 



THE EGG 



Most of the eggs (fig. A) are laid during the first half of June and on the 



13 Tlascala finitella (Wlk.). 



[17} 



