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9. 1914. Bodkin, G. E. The Grass Moth, Remigia repanda Fab., Jour. Board 
Agr. Brit. Guiana, Georgetown, Vol. VII, no. 4, April, pp. 171-174. 
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no. 3, March, p. 110. 
THE SPOTTED CUTWORM, AGROTIS C-NIGRUM (L), 
A CRANBERRY PEST 1 
By H. J. Franklin and D. S. Lacroix 
During the summer of 1923, severe outbreaks of the Spotted Cut¬ 
worm, Agrotis c-nigrum (L.), occurred on several cranberry bogs in 
southeastern Massachusetts. The infestations developed quickly and 
most of the crop on the infested areas was destroyed before treatment 
could be applied to advantage. The activities of this pest became evi¬ 
dent almost simultaneously on thirteen widely separated bogs in the 
towns of Kingston, Middleboro, Rochester, Carver, Wareham, Barn¬ 
stable, Harwich, Orleans, and Chatham, during the latter part of July. 
It was estimated that the total area infested was about 200 acres and 
that the possible loss was 10,000 barrels of berries, representing a money 
loss of $60,000. 
The first indication of the work of this insect was the sudden dis¬ 
appearance of the cranberry blossoms. Also, many fallen green leaves 
appeared in the bog ditches. 
The larvae, which were nearly all full grown by the last week in 
July, were found during the day among the litter of dead leaves on the 
bog bottom. At night they climbed the cranberry uprights and fed by 
cutting off the flowers at the distal end of the pedicel and dropping them. 
Later, they cut off the small berries in the same way. They also cut off 
many leaves, apparently devouring but little of them. This accounts for 
the fallen green leaves seen first along the ditches and later everywhere 
under seriously infested vines. The most severe infestations so defoliated 
small areas of bog that the bare uprights gave some of the vines a brown 
tinge when viewed from a distance. When the berries had attained some 
size, the worms ate into many of them more or less, often devouring the 
interior and leaving only the outer portion. 
Of the two most widely grown cranberry varieties, the Early Black 
and the Howes, the latter generally was preferred by the larvae. On 
bogs having these varieties on adjoining sections, the infestation often 
seemed to stop where the Early Black sections began. 
x The observations reported here were made by the authors in research conducted 
by the Massacusetts Agricultural Experiment Station. 
