BULLETIN OF THE 
No. 263 
. t2t>rj|tribution from Bureau of Entomology, L. O. Howard, Chief. 
July 19, 1915. 
(PROFESSIONAL PAPER.) 
THE CRANBERRY ROOTWORM. 
• : By H. B. Scammell, Entomological Assistant, Deciduous Fruit Insect Investigations. 
INTRODUCTION. 2 
The investigation of cranberry insects in New Jersey has included 
the biological study of a beetle, well known to collectors for more than 
a century, but unrecorded, until recently, as a pest to the cranberry. 
Attention was first called to it on the cranberry bogs by Mr. T. B. 
Gaskill, of New Egypt, N. J., who reported injury in a bog in his 
vicinity and sent specimens of larva?, pupa?, and beetles to the Bureau 
of Entomology for determination. Adult specimens, submitted to 
Mr. E. A. Schwarz, were determined as Rhabdopterus picipes Oliv., 
of the family Chrysomelidse. 
Mr. A. L. Quaintance (1912) , 3 of the Bureau of Entomology, after 
making a visit to the infested bog in June of 1912, presented his obser- 
vations on the extent and character of the injury and the feeding and 
probable egg-laying habits of the beetle before the Entomological 
Society of Washington. These notes were the first published records 
pertaining to the economic importance of this insect. 
Rhabdopterus picipes was first described by Olivier (1808) from 
the collection of Bosc in the Jardin des Plantes, Paris, being placed 
by him in the genus Colaspis. It was later described by Say 
(1824) under the name Colaspis pretexta. Le Conte, when he edited 
the writings of Say (1859), made note that Colaspis pretexta Say is 
Colaspis picipes Oliv. The genus Rhabdopterus was erected by 
Lefevre in 1885, and a few years later Horn (1892) transferred picipes 
from Colaspis to Rhabdopterus. 
Later writers have made mention of the food plants of the beetle, 
but only one larval host is known. With the finding of the larva? 
on cranberry roots and the dying of the vines in infested areas it was 
deemed advisable to devote special attention to the habits and 
1 Rhabdopterus picipes Oliv.; order Coleoptera, family Chrysomelidee. 
2 The illustrations used in this paper are from photographs by Messrs. II. K. Plank and J. H. Paine, of 
the Bureau of Entomology. The author is also pleased to acknowledge the assistance of Mr. Plank in 
carrying on life-history studies of the cranberry rootworm. 
. :; Bibliographic citations in parentheses refer to "Literature cited," p. 8. 
94303°— Bull. 263—15 
