Bast * 
F-531249 
Figure 99.—Defoliation and webbing caused 
by the fall webworm, Hyphantria cunea. 
occur, however, sometimes encompassing tracts of several square kilometers. The. 
fall webworm is often a serious pest of shade trees and ornamentals. These trees 
may be heavily or completely defoliated, and the presence of numerous, unsightly 
webs is esthetically detracting. Persistent infestations on individual trees may cause 
branch and top-kill. There is considerable literature on this insect in the United 
States and Canada (/55, SS/, 853, 854, 946, 947, 1207). 
Seirarctia echo (J. E. Smith) larvae feed on the foliage of persimmon, runner 
oak, and cabbage palmetto from Florida to Mississippi. The adult is white and has a 
wingspread of about 55 mm. The wing veins are edged with dark brown or black. 
Full-grown larvae are clothed with coarse, black-tipped hairs and are about 50 mm 
long. The body is black on top except for a pair of yellowish stripes and a row of 
orange warts that cross each segment. 
Other species of arctiids likely to be encountered in eastern forests include: 
Haploa clymene (Brown)—on maple, hickory, and apple; H. lecontei (Guérin- 
Méneville)—on maple, birch, oak, and cherry; Apantesis radians (Walker)—on 
slash pine seedlings in Georgia; and Lexis bicolor Grote—on balsam fir and 
spruce. 
Family Ctenuchidae 
Ctenuchids 
Lymire edwardsii (Grote) has been recorded feeding as larvae on the foliage of 
banyan and fig trees in Florida. The adult is a sluggish, bluish-gray to purplish-gray 
moth, with plumose blue antennae. The thorax 1s orange-red beneath, the abdomen 
white beneath and blue above. Larvae are somewhat whitish with a dark tuft of hairs 
on the thorax. When touched, they usually flip from the leaf and drop to the ground 
on silken threads. This species is occasionally destructive on shade or ornamental 
trees (469). 
226 
