It seldom is practicable to flood a bog when the worms are active. A spray 

 of 6 pounds of dry lead arsenate in 100 gallons of water, 300 gallons to the acre, 

 is very effective, especially if applied while the worms are hatching. A second ap' 

 plication five to seven days after the first is often necessary. 



If the moths have been flying in great numbers, the vines should be exam' 

 ined with an insect net daily from about June 20 till the worms begin to 

 hatch. Then spraying should begin at once and all the infested area be treated 

 in two days, even if it takes several spraying outfits. These worms sometimes 

 give a net count of over 2000 to 50 sweeps, and such an infestation can de- 

 stroy a fine crop promise within a week after hatching begins. 



Cotton Span worm ^^ 



The late J. B. Smith gave us what we know of this species on cranberry 

 bogs. He found it in 1883 infesting severely a bog in Cotuit^?. There is little 

 evidence that it attacked other bogs or has appeared as a cranberry feeder 

 at any other time. Its attack probably was due to unusual abundance, for jt 

 broke out as a strawberry pest in Illinois the same year. As it may appear on 

 bogs again, it is discussed here. 



Distribution and Food Plants 

 This spanworm ranges over most of this country east of the Rocky Moun- 

 tains. It feeds on apple, ash, asparagus, blackberry, clover, cotton, cranberry, 

 elm, geranium, guava, hickory, honey locust, maple, orange, pear, poplar, straw 

 berry, willow, and yellow dock. It attacks asparagus and cotton oftenest. 



Character of Injury 

 The first brood starts near the edge of a bog. The second starts from inside 

 centers where groups of eggs have been laid. The worms were so abundant in 

 the recorded infestation that they browned quite an area. They advanced in 

 masses like armyworms. 



Description and Seasonal History 



The worms first appear in June and mature late in that month or early in 

 July. They are then about an inch and an eighth long and vary from yellow- 

 ish to brown or livid gray, being streaked and mottled with lighter and darker 

 shades. There are two low black tubercles on the back about a third of the 

 length back from the head and two smaller ones near the hind end. The head 

 is marked with irregular black cross bands. 



The worms go into the ground a little and change into rough brown pupae 

 about half an inch long from which the moths emerge in nearly two weeks. 



The caterpillars of the second brood mature in August, beginning to pupate 

 before the ninth but continuing to abound till after the middle of the month. 

 The moths appear at the end of August and in September. 



The moth (Plate Three, fig. 12) varies considerably in size, color, and mark- 

 ings. Its wing expanse is from a little less than an inch to nearly an inch and 

 a half. It is ash gray and the wings are crossed by irregular brown lines. 

 The first abdominal segment is white above. The antennae of the female are 

 threadlike, those of the male pectinate. 



30 Anavitrinella pampinaria (Gn.). This insect is officially known as the cranberry 

 spanworm, but there is no sound reason why it should be. 



37 U. S. Dept. Agr., Div. Ent., Bui. 4 (O.S.), pp. 26-38, 1884. 



[42] 



