Blossomworm

CRANBERRIES

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Cranberry Blossomworm
Order: Lepidoptera || Family: Noctuidae
Epiglaea apiata (Grote)

This cutworm appears quite consistently each year on Maine cranberry beds, but rarely do its numbers—independent of other caterpillar pests—reach threshold. When added to false armyworm counts, however, the threshold for Maine growers is frequently surpassed. Each blossomworm that matures destroys many cranberry blossoms (while still in the bud stage), and once they are half grown, they switch from feeding during the daytime to feeding mostly at night. They overwinter as eggs, deposited singly in October on fallen leaves or pieces of dead vine on the floor of the bed. In Maine, they begin to hatch by the end of May (a few weeks later following a Late Water flood). [See also pages 16-17 of Cranberry Insects of the Northeast by A.L. Averill & M.M. Sylvia – There is a nice photo of the moth on page 16 of that book. The moths are around during harvest.] Photo

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These pages are currently being maintained by the Pest Management Office, University of Maine Cooperative Extension. Page Last Modified: 05/15/08