Forest Pests: Insects, Diseases & Other Damage Agents

Spring Hemlock Looper (Lambdina athasaria)

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. Brownish and grayish body with spotted head and with light dorsum and darker, striped sides. Grayish head with small brown and large black spots; partly dark yellow prothoracic shield with dark spots; gray thoracic legs tinted with yellow. Mostly light gray dorsum spotted with brown and black; grayish white subdorsal stripe with interdispersed, brownish areas and with dark brown edges; series of grayish, brownish, or blackish longitudinal lines and stripes below subdorsal stripe. Black spiracles; light gray venter with several dark longitudinal lines. Up to 30 mm.

Food. Eastern hemlock; less commonly balsam fir and spruces.

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

Comments. We consider this species to be distinct from the curve-lined looper, Lambdina fervidaria, which has a paler caterpillar that prefers to eat oaks, Quercus species. Unlike the spring hemlock looper, the curve-lined looper has two generations per year. The spring hemlock looper has an outbreak every 40 to 50 years; the last one in New England occurred during the late 1980s and early 1990s.

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