2 BULLETIN 554, U. S. L/EPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



year. Smith's statement no longer holds true for New Jersey bogs, 

 owing to the fact that many large areas of "cranberry vines have 

 been utterly destroyed by the insect in recent years. 



Owing to its habit of feeding concealed in trash under the vines, 

 the worm is very difficult to find and has been overlooked by many 

 growers who were aware of the injury but uncertain as to the cause. 



HISTORY. 



The cranberry girdler has figured in entomological writings as a 

 pest of grasses and will be found referred to in that connection as 

 the " garden crambid " or " garden veneer." In cranberry districts 

 it is frequently spoken of as the " girdle worm," but the generally 

 accepted name for the species is the " cranberry girdler." 



From the time of its description by Hiibner (1, p. 29, pi. 7, figs. 

 45, 46) in Europe until the work of Scudder (5) and of Felt (6, p. 

 75-76, 87-88, 99-100; fig. 7; pi. 3, fig. 19; pi. 9, fig. 19; pi. 14, fig. 19) 

 little was known of its habits. The American form was first de- 

 scribed by Zeller (3, p. 155-156) under the name of Crambm topiarius, 

 and later by Grote (4, p. 74), who stated that Zeller considered 

 topiarius to represent the European hortuellus in the American 

 fauna. Of late years the girdler has been the subject of considerable 

 study in Massachusetts by Franklin (10, p. 7-8). 



DISTRIBUTION. 



This pest is not confined to the cranberry-growing sections, but 

 is widespread throughout the United States, Europe, and Canada. 

 Originally described as a European species, it is listed by Wood 

 (2, p. 216, pi. 47, fig. 1497, n) from various parts of England and 

 by Felt (6, p. 99) from St. John, New Brunswick, Canada. Felt 

 gives the distribution as Maine, Massachusetts, North Carolina, 

 Illinois, Nevada, and California, from which it may be noted that 

 the species occurs practically from one end of this country to the 

 other, and it is probable that it will be recorded eventually from 

 every State in the Union. In the cranberry districts of Massa- 

 chussetts and New Jersey it is very abundant, and in New Jersey 

 especially it may be said that the majority of bogs show more or less 

 injury by this species. It is common in Wisconsin, but has not be- 

 come a serious cranberry pest, probably because the bog floors, as a 

 rule, are kept wetter than those in the eastern cranberry States. 



FOOD PLANTS. 



The early records mention this insect as having been found com- 

 monly on grasses, but just what grasses is not specified. Fernald (7, 



