Forest Pests: Insects, Diseases & Other Damage Agents

Brown Pine Looper (Caripeta angustiorata)

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. Reddish brown and grayish yellow body with light-colored dorsum, transverse dorsal ridges, and spiracular stripe; color variable, often darker. Yellowish head marked with white spots and shaded with reddish brown. Light yellow dorsum, sometimes invaded by brown at hind margin of segments and bisected by gray middorsal stripe. Rear of segments, especially A1 to A6, with low dorsal ridge that has brownish, raised tubercles. Broad, light yellow spiracular stripe. Up to 35 mm.

Food. Pines and spruces; less commonly balsam fir and eastern larch.

Life Cycle. One generation. Pupa overwinters in soil or debris. Mature caterpillar present from July to September.

Comments. The stripes on the brown pine looper become increasingly obscure as it approaches pupation. Wagner et al. (2001) have illustrated a more brownish form of this species. Due to its very light color, the brown pine looper pictured here may not be a final instar.

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