-/^-i> l. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRIC1 LTURE BORIAE OF BHT0M0L0GY CIRCULAR No. 145. Ill l()\V AND. Entomologui ,nd Chirf of Bure.u. II I M HE LARGER CANNA LEAP-ROLLER. F. II. CHITTENDEN, s. . D.. •nd Stand Product I ••i M. k: it BTJRE W OF ENTOMOLOGY. L. O. Howard, Entomologist and Chief of Bureau. ( '. I.. Marlatt, Entomologist and Acting Chief in Absence of Chief U. s. Clifton, Executive Assistant. W. V. Tastet, Chief Clerk. F. H. Chittenden, in charge of truck crop and stored product insert investigations. A. 1). Hopkins, in chargi of forest insect investigations. W. D. Hunter, in charge of southern .Held crop insect investigations. V. M. Webster, in charge of cereal and foragi insect investigations. A. T.. Qttaintance, in charge of deciduous fruit insect investigations. E. F. Phillips, in charge of bee culture. I>. M. Rogers, wi charge of preventing spread of mollis, field work. Rolla I'. Curbie, in chnrijc of editorial work. M lbel Colcord, in charge of library. Truce Chop and Stored Produi i [nse< i [nvestigations. I'. II. ( 'll l 111 NDl \. ;'(/ clniri/i . II. M. Russell, C. II. Popenoe, W'.m. B. Parker, II. <>. Marsh, M. M. High, Fred A. Johnston. .1. I-:. Graf, entomological assistants. I. J. Condit, collaborator in California. 1'. T. Cole, collaborator in tidewater Virginia. \V. X. Ord, collaborator in Oregon. Trios. II. Jones, collaborator in Porto Rico. Marion T. Van Horn, Pauline m. Johnson, preparators. Circular No. 145. I nited States Department of Agriculture, BUREAU OK ENTOMOLOGY. L. O. HOWAKI), RntomoloffUt and Chief of Hureau. THE LARGER ( 'ANN V LEAF-ROLLER. i i 'alpoih - cthlius « i am. i I'.y I'. II. i ii i ii i mii \ Si I ' In Chnrffi i>f Truck Crop and 8torcd Product Insect Inrmtigatin KM IN l I \.U IM VXD METHOD Ol ATTACK. During the year I'M 1 the leaf-rolling caterpillar of Calporfe* ethiiun Cram, attracted considerable attention from ii- abundance in most of iln' public parks in tin- District of Columbia, and at West Grove, Pa.; Xorfolk, V T a.; West Raleigh, V C.; Memphis, Tenn.; Clinton, Miss.; Birmingham, Ala.; and Orlando. Fla. In earlier years ii has ravaged fields "t cannn in portions '>!' South Carolina and Alabama. In Septemlwr, IU04, :i l<»i of specimens \\:i- received from Mr. L. II. Read, Eruitdale, Ala., nn I i < » wrote that thousands >>( tin- cater- pillars weir in the fields and that hand-picking \\;i- mil of the question. All bronze varieties of canna were injured, including s <>r In varieties. Among those most attacked were Mississippi, Mont Blanc, Explorateur Crampbell, and Italia. A few green varieties were somewhat affected, but as ;i rule were scarcely touched, ob- viously <>\\ ing to their thicker and tougher leaves. The caterpillar was observed :it work only ;ii night. The same year the species was observed somewhat abundantly at Baton Rouge, La., by Prof. A. L. Quaintance, and sparingly at New Orleans, La., by Prof. E. R «■ Titus. Although only n \'v\\ instances <>f severe injury are cited, these are doubtless merely representatives of many which were not reported. August _'7. r. »<>.">. the writer observed considerable injury by this caterpillar to many of ih>' decorative cannn growing on the grounds of the Department <>f Agriculture :it Washington, I >. (\. and after- l THE LARGER (ANNA LEAF-ROLLER. wards noted similar injury in several of the smaller public parks of this city, showing that the attack was not local, although more severe on the department grounds, which had attracted the but- terflies from afar, doubtless owing to the much larger parkage. Caterpillars kept under observa- tion had "spun up*' for pupation by September 3, but at this time there were still many young larvae present in garden plats, and there was evidence that they had been at work at least a> late as the middle of August, while the age of the larva indicated that the butterflies had appeared to lay their eggs late in July, but evidentty not earlier. The cause of this invasion was appar- ently that the summer of 100"> was an unusually hot one. Heat favors an increase of insects of this type. Prevailing southerly wind-, however. were probably more potent factors in causing this migration from the Gulf region northward, since the summer of 190G was still warmer, but with much greater humid- ity, and under these condi- tions only one pupa was found Pig. 1. — The larger canna Jen f - roller i Calpodea cthliua i : Pull - grown larva. About one-third en- larged. (Original.) during that en- tire year. The attention of the writer was attracted to injury by this spe- cies by the large irregular areas which were cut away from the margins of the canna leaves. It was then noticed that the larva (fig. 1) begins operations by cut- ting a small, more or less oblong strip about one-half inch long from the edge of a leaf and fold- ing it neatly over on the lower sur- face. (See fig. 2.) Within this Hap. which is nearly flat, the larva lives concealed, feeding above and below its retreat. As it increases its growth the larva make- large incisions in the leaf's edge, with a correspondingly large flap (fig. 3). Tt is not until the larva is considerably larger that it forms large tubular retreats. (See Pig. 2. — Canna leaf showing, at left, injury by an older larva of the larger canna leaf roller. (Original.) I II I l.xia.i i: « \\ N \ LEAF UOLM H. 3 lin. I.) Rarely .1 larva folds ■ portion of the lower side of h leaf over the upper Burface. Tina operation may vary under differenl con ditions in (it her localities. Tin' following year, 1907, tlii- species came under the observation of Mr. II. M. Russell, a( Orlando, Fla., on August 24. At t li i- time he found all stages in great abundance on canna, the leaves of which w ere being cut t<> pieces. Manx plant- were stripped of leaves do* n to the midrib. \ I K< ifli \l I N -I 1 I . KIM Hi n| Bl I I.'"- I . This -pcric- ami it- injuries have been known for man} years, yet only one comprehensive article on it has, in our knowledge, appeared in any work on economic entomology, 1 al- though the insect in it- \ ari- ous stages was described in detail h\ Dr. S. II. Scudder in his Butterflies of the Eastern United States and Canada. 1 The entire ap- pearance of the insect from the larval stage t" the adult i- indicative of it- tropical origin, and it i- still some- what restricted to the South. There is a possibility, how- ever, that it may gradually extend it- present distribu- tion if it can obtain a foot- ing iii greenhouses where canna- are grown. During 1911, at Wash- p,.. 3, — Canna leaf showing Injury by still older injzton, D. ('.. the writer ... obtained many specimens ot rolled -up leave- of canna. some containing pupa; and larva?, Novem- ber 1: and later. November :>. after a frost of 28 I'.. 1 live pupa. 1 dead larva, and 2 dead pupa? were found. This material was placed under the same condition- a- tho-e under which it would have remained where found -that is, in the open but none had trans- formed to butterflies up to November •_'•_'. showing quite conclusively that this material, which was carefully handled, would naturally I under the circumstances. In the parks, when the cannas were cut, the immature stages in leave- wen- left for a dav or twn "■4. Bur I ■ i in iii.- pi I"! Ill I. LARGER (ANNA LEAF-ROLLER. and afterwards presumably taken away where they would not have had an opportunity to transform any more than they would have had under the conditions previously mentioned. Several days later. November 27, only one living pupa was found, and this evidenced very little likelihood of ever recovering from the cold, showing con- clusively that the species, unless it happens to find some unusually •rood place for hibernation, is "•killed out" by the severe frosts of practically every winter. These conditions may even exist farther southward than the Districl of Columbia. wherever severe frosts arc encountered. DESCRIPTIVE. The butterfly. — The parent of this singular leaf-roller is a butterfly belonging to the sub- family Pamphilinse of the family Hesperiidae, or skippers. It is one of the larger skippers, with a wing expanse of between 1 and 1 \ inch'-. The head is very broad, with large eyes, and the body is thick and heavy. The upper surface of the head, thorax, and a portion of the abdomen i> thickly covered with long olive hairs. The wings are dark brown. with white semitrans- parent >pots. arranged as in figure 6, '/. which also shows the location of the masses of yellowish hairs, the contour of the wines, and the structure of the antennae. The lower surface of the wings is much paler brown, or fulvous, and more nearly uniform in color. The head and body are still paler yellowish. The adult is sometimes called the Brazilian skipper. The egg is illustrated by Scudder. It i- subhemispherical in outline. as viewed from the side, and has a convex base, while the surface very irregularly reticulated, in mos< cases pentagonally. The broadest ■i Fig. 4. — Section of canna leaf, showing edjro rolled over mill fastened by larva of (lie larger eanna leaf-roller. Folded section taken the last <>f October, showing larger size than in summer. (Original.) I II i i VRG1 H I W n \ LEA* ROLLI R. diameter is 1.25 nun.: height about <>.7 nun. Kggs 1 1 ;* ^ • • not been Been by the writer, and the color does not appear to have been designated. J !,, In,.-,/, or caterpillar, is quite remarkable because of it- semi- transparency. Its surface is without hair, and the general color is moderately pale green, \v i 1 1 ■ dark-orange subtriangular head, which is marked by n frontal subtriangulai space. The thoracic segments are greenish testa- ceous :i lit 1 nunc cu- lt-- tinged with orange. ;it least in preserved spec- imens. The re- mainder nf the body is nearly transparent, pre- senting i \ iew "I tin- vascular and nervous -\ stem be- neath the skin, as illustrated in fig- ures 1 and 6, b. The length <>f the larva, when full grown, is about 1 , ; inches, l>ut when fully extended it reaches 2| inches. Tlti pupa is nearly as striking as is the larva. It is of similar pale greenish color and of the appearance own in figure 6, . d. [*he head is prolonged into a curved process, and the tongue extends in a nearly straight line considerably Work ,,f lancet canna leaf-roller: \» richt rahnlar i.i which the larra feed* at left, *;imc showing pnpn within l.l beyond i lu> prolonged anal tubercle. Without the projections it i- nearly as long as the unextended larva. D1STRIB1 11<'N. - idder stairs that the principal range of tln> spi from Cen- tral America to the northern part- of the South American Continent, 6 THE LARGER (ANNA LEAF-ROLLER. although it inhabits also the extreme Southern States of our Union. So far as can be learned it is known to exist permanently only in the (Julf States. South Carolina, and Porto Rico in our domains. It also inhabits Cuba and Jamaica, however, and in South America occurs as far south as Argentina, where it was years ago reported to be common by Burmeister. In an earlier article on this species (loc. cit.) , Scudder's dictum was followed and the mentioned occurrence of this species at Bay Ridge, Long Island, and at New York City were considered as merely tran- sitory. It is evident that such infestations may occur in the North whenever conditions favor the northward flight of the butterfly. These conditions have been mentioned. It is hardly probable that the insect successfully overwinters in the District of Columbia or I'n . 6. — The larger canna leaf-roller {Calpoiles ethlius) : V ~, we received from Mr. A. L. Townsend, Bay Ridge. Long Island, report that the species did much I III. i.xia.i R CANNA i i \l ROU i R. / damage i" French cm hum- ami to t aludiutn escuhiitutn. In our real in^: cages the butterflies hatched June L2 and August 26. The caterpillars appear to affect only plants "I the genus Canna, when these are obtainable, and sometimes thej are so abundant as to ilo much damage, a< times utterly destroying luxuriant plants. I' II. (i. Dyar, <>l' the Hunan of Entomology, mentions n case in which the larvae were eating the leaves of canna in the grounds of a hotel at Miami. Fla., considerably injuring the appearance of the plant-. I. II I HISTORl \ M> HABITS. Eggs are laid singly and separately, sometimes in groups of from five to seven, on the under surface of leaves. According to M Helen King 1 they hatch in Texas in six days, while in Florida, according to Wittfeld, they may hatch in four days. On hatching, the caterpillar, as is common with many species, de- vours a portion of its eggshell, whereupon, after feeding lightly on a leaf, it folds the latter over ami confine- it in place with a few stitches of silk, enlarging it- retreat as it develops. From the tubular case thus formed it feeds along the edges and ret teat-, within when dis- turbed. It is careful to eject all excreta and exuvia?, but in spite of it- cleanline» the caterpillar is frequently attacked by disease. Dr. Dyar has ascertained that there are customarily five stages of this larva. The larva, when full grown, develops to a pupa in its resting place, ■•held by a transverse loop and a hand of -ilk for the cremaster. The cremasterial hand is attached at one end to the leaf: at the other to the transverse thread." This accurately de- scribes the pupal case as observed in specimens received at this office. According to data accumulated by Scudder, the butterfly is on the wing in southern Florida in May. and from eggs laid in the middle of the month the butterflies reappear in the first half of dune. In South Carolina the season is a little later, and there mature cater- pillar- have been observed before the middle of June and fresh but- terflies from the 1 lit 1 1 of the month to the end. Scudder conch that there are two generations before midsummer. Judging by recent experience there are likely to he two more generations before cold weather, hut we do not know how the winter i- passed. The moths from one of these generations appear in the latter part of September. Of the butterfly Angus has stated that he was attracted to an indi- vidual, which he captured near New York City, "by the peculiarity of it- movements on the wing; they were very undulating, like those id gnatSj a- they rose and fell almost perpendicularly and in a very easy manner."' Wittfeld add- that one of the favorite time- for ■ Psyche, Vol. 111. pp 322 324, I8S * Entomological Se« - :"> 163 1';.".. 8 THE LARGEB (ANNA LEAF-ROLLEE. flight of the butterfly in fair weather i> after sundown. Miss Helen King describes its motion ;is " very rapid." VARIETIES OF (ANNA MOST AFFECTED. The question as to whether dark varieties of canna are more affected by this species than are green one^ remain- for further in- vestigation. In the District of Columbia the green-foliage varieties which have come under the writer's observations are considerably more affected than the darker ones. "When, however, the insect become-- very abundant it attack- all va- rieties. One correspondent, men- tioned on the introductory page, has stated of the occurrence of this species in the Gulf region that it affect- more particularly the dark varieties. A leaf showing severe injury by this species of leaf-roller is illustrated in figure 7. and a bed of cannas showing similar injury is shown in figui NATURAL ENEMIES. In spite of years of experience with this specie-, neither Mr. Ru-- sell nor the writer has been able to observe any form of disease, but Mr. E. G. Smyth, when work- ing under the writer's direction at Diamond Springs, Va., observed two larva> killed by disease Octo- ber S. 1000. During October, 1907, Mr. Rus- sell found at Orlando. Fla.. quite a number of egg parasites. Octo- ber 12 he found a canna leaf on which were 33 eggs of this species, 5 unhatched. and 2 hatched larvae; 26 of the>e eggs had given out parasites through a very minute hole in the side. October 10. 4 unhatched i"s:g> were placed in one vial and 1G in another vial. November 1. while away, the egg- hatched out "20 minute parasites. 1 Pentartkron minutum Riley, as identified by Mr. A. A. Girault. In the other vial one larva hatched: the re-t gave forth many minute parasites of the same species and one large unidentified parasite. 2 These observations, although few in number, show a high percentage of egg parasitism. FlG. 7. — Canna leaf, showing advanced injury by larva- of the lari-er canna leaf-roller. (Original.) 1 Chlttn. No. J0!Y". ! Chlttn. No I II I I \l;i .1 i; t \ \ \ \ I l \ I 1:1 >l .; '.I Ml rilODfl OF CONTROL.. The rolled over margin* of the lenve of canna caused \>\ this caterpillar can after :i time be verj readily detected while the larva are still young. (See fig. 2.) Later large holes "ill appear and the rolled -up leaves will In- more prominent unless something is done to check tlic pest. The dark excrement will be found below the infested leaves and will also serve to indicate the presence of the larva, and after opening anj of these rolled-over leaves the insect will usually be found therein, or traces of its former presence. All of these facts, together with the large size of the insect itself, permit it- control l>\ hand methods. Hand-picking was successfully prac- S Bed • nnns shov Her. M ■ 1< uvea wlltod nod dying, or nol Mri Wimhlnjrton, D nal.) ticed at Lafayette Square, Washington, I>. ('.. in late July, 1911, and on the Department of Agriculture grounds, by squeezing the leaves with gloved hands. In the former locality the insects were very abundant; in the latter they were so well controlled by hand methods as scarcely to be noticed on the many canna plants which wore grown. The usual arsenicals, such as Pari- green and arsenate of lead, with or without Bordeaux mixture, ran be used without any real danger of poisoning. Their use is not always desirable, because of the presence of children, who are allowed to roam into yard- which 10 THE LARGER (ANNA LEAF-ROLLER. are not protected Ijy gates; but this i- not the case with our public parks, where the cannas grow in great profusion and are sufficiently protected by frames and where warning is always given by the offi- cers in charge to keep away from the growing plant-. These arsen- icals may be used with a knapsack or other hand sprayer in just about the same manner as advised against the Colorado potato beetle in Bureau of Entomology Circular 87, a copy of which may be obtained on application to the Department of Agriculture. It can not be too Strongly emphasized that whatever method is used, whether spraying or hand-picking, should be inaugurated early in the season to prevent serious injury later on. Approved : James Wilson, Secretary of Agriculture. Washington, D. C. December 29, 1911. rFHIS PUBLICATION may be pro- -*- cured from the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office Washington, D. C, at 5 cents per copy DOCDMBii UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA Un HI milium i 3 1262 05252 3577 /