Forest Pests: Insects, Diseases & Other Damage Agents

Blurry Chocolate Angle (Macaria transitaria)

Maier, C.T., C.R. Lemmon, J.M. Fengler, D.F. Schweitzer, and R.C. Reardon. 2004. Caterpillars on the Foliage of Conifers in the Northeastern United States. FHTET-2004-1. Morgantown, WV: USDA Forest Service, Forest Health Technology Enterprise Team; 151 p.

Description. Dull green body with marked head, with pale subdorsal and spiracular stripes, and with many wavy, dark green longitudinal lines; also reddish form. Green head with lobes streaked with reddish brown, partly in darker herringbone pattern; streak on lobes with white margins (extensions of subdorsal and spiracular stripes); brownish green thoracic legs. Indistinct, green middorsal stripe edged with dark olive-green; grayish to yellowish white subdorsal and spiracular stripes, the latter broader; many wavy, olive-green to dark green longitudinal lines between middorsal and spiracular stripes. Up to 24 mm.

Food. Jack, red, pitch, and other hard pines.

Life Cycle. One to two generations. Pupa overwinters in soil or debris. Mature caterpillar present from July to November, but mainly in July and August in southern New England.

Comments. This species formerly was known as Semiothisa transitaria.

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