eggs are irregular in shape, yellowish white, and not 

 easily seen. They hatch in about 3 days. 



The newly hatched larvae (pickle worms) are yellow- 

 ish white. Numerous dark spots soon appear on them; 

 these disappear before the larvae are full grown. 



In 10 to 28 days the larvae are full grown. At this 

 time they are about % inch long, and have yellowish- 

 green bodies and brown heads. 



A full-grown larva leaves the part of the plant where 

 it has fed, attaches itself to a leaf on the plant or to a 

 leaf or other object on the ground under the plant and 

 spins a thin web around its body before transforming to 

 a pupa. 



The pupae are l /% to $4 mcn l° n g- At first they are 

 greenish white; later, a shiny reddish brown. 



The pupal stage lasts 6 to 31 days except in cold 

 weather when it may last as long as 70 days. 



The life cycle from egg to adult normally is completed 

 in 22 to 53 days. 



Several overlapping generations of the pickleworm 

 occur each year in the South. There may be only a 

 partial one in the northern limit of the range of the insect. 



The pickleworm apparently is able to survive the 

 winter only in semitropical areas where living host plants 

 do so. In other areas the first brood of larvae usually is 

 small and causes little damage to cultivated crops. The 

 insect then gradually increases in abundance until frost 

 kills its host plants. Summer and fall plantings usually 

 are the ones that receive most injury. 



Pickleworms feed throughout the winter on cultivated 

 and native host plants in extreme southern Florida and 

 extreme southern Texas. The species gradually spreads 

 northward during the spring and summer of each year. 

 This spread results from flights of the moths and occa- 

 sionally from shipment of infested squash or other hosts. 

 Larvae have been found in central Florida in March, in 

 southern Georgia in April, in coastal South Carolina in 

 May, in coastal North Carolina in June, in eastern 

 Virginia in August, and in Maryland in September. 

 Similar northward spread evidently occurs from other 



Certain insects may be mistaken for the pickleworm when 

 found on cucurbit crops. These are the melonworm, 

 which feeds chiefly on foliage; the squash vine borer, 

 which usually confines its feeding to stalks near the soil 

 surface; and the corn earworm, which usually is found 

 only in the flowers. 



