Forest Pests: Insects, Diseases & Other Damage Agents

Spruce Fir Looper (Macaria signaria dispuncta)

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. Green body with marked head, frosted dorsum, and pale subdorsal and spiracular stripes; also purplish form. Bluish green head with lobes streaked with light purple to brown (dark brown herringbone pattern in upper purplish area); streak on lobes with white border above and yellow below (extensions of subdorsal and spiracular stripes); greenish brown thoracic legs, becoming increasingly reddish brown toward tip. Dark green middorsal stripe bordered faintly by bluish green; dorsum mostly frosted with bluish white; white subdorsal stripe with two wavy, dark green longitudinal lines immediately below. Mostly white spiracular stripe with yellow near spiracles; narrow, yellowish band at hind margin of segments. Up to 24 mm.

Food. Balsam fir, eastern hemlock, and spruces; less commonly eastern larch.

Life Cycle. One to two generations. Pupa overwinters in soil or debris. Mature caterpillar present from July to November.

Comments. The food plants of the spruce fir looper and the hemlock angle, Macaria fissinotata, are similar, but the former is much more likely to be the species found on spruces. The subspecies, M. signaria signaria, inhabits coniferous forests in northern Europe and northern Asia where it tends to be an uncommon species (Ferguson 1974). The North American spruce fir looper formerly was known as Semiothisa signaria dispuncta.

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