4 BULLETIN 504, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
of the runners has occurred, in a number of bogs it has been noted 
that such areas develop more rotten fruit than do adjacent vines in 
healthy condition. The weakening of the vines apparently tends to 
make the fruit more susceptible to fungous attack. 
In severe cases of girdler feeding the vines may become so loosened, 
or so badly eaten and severed, that they may be rolled back with 
slight exertion, exposing the bare trash beneath. 
Girdled vines are often found on which injured portions, where 
the bark has been abraded, are covered with white cottony material ; 
these are the waxy coverings of mealy bugs (Pseudococcus adonidum 
L.), and as they are rarely found on healthy vines they should be 
classed as secondary pests. 
The specific injury caused by the feeding worms is due to their 
eating through the bark of the runners into the wood, which often 
occurs to such an extent that the runner is completely severed. (PI. 
III, A,B.) Gnawing the bark completely around a runner will also 
ull that part of the plant beyond, provided no other roots nourish 
this part. Runners are often seen which have been tunnelled for 
short distances by this insect, and some are eaten down to mere 
splinters. The fine roots as well are eaten, but to a less extent than 
is the woody part. Feeding marks are sometimes found on the 
crowns of the plants where they arise from the hills as originally 
set. Practically all of the feeding, however, is done by the larve 
in a concealed position—in the trash which is found beneath the 
vines, which consists largely of fallen leaves, pieces of vines, and 
other débris, and forms a mat over the runners, affording the girdlers 
excellent protection from parasitic insects. 
The feeding marks of the cranberry girdler should not be confused 
with those of the cranberry rootworm (?habdopterus picipes Oliv.), 
which feeds on the small roots and root hairs and on the runners only 
to the extent of eating the bark, usually on the side which touches 
the ground. In general, the rootworm feeds below the surface of 
the ground, whereas the girdler feeds above the surface but hidden 
in a layer of trash. The excrement of the girdler in badly injured 
areas is very abundant, appearing in masses, which indicates that 
the larva feeds for a considerable length of time without materially 
changing its location. Often the excrement, intermixed with bits of 
trash, will be found with silken threads woven loosely through it, 
and these rude galleries probably constitute a protective covering for 
the worm during the feeding period. Scudder (5) figured a cylin- 
drical, upright case for this larva occurring on grasses, and Fer- 
nald (8, p. 150) speaks of a vertical tube, constructed of bits of 
vegetable material held together by silk, but neither of these larval 
cases has been found on New Jersey cranberry bogs, and for this 
reason the larve are described as being naked. a 
