Abstruse False Looper (Syngrapha abstrusa)

Taxonomy

Domain	Eukarya
Kingdom	Animalia
Phylum	Arthropoda
Subphylum	Hexapoda
Class	Insecta
Subclass	Pterygota
Infraclass	Neoptera
Superorder	Holometabola
Order	Lepidoptera
Superfamily	Noctuoidea
Family	Noctuidae
Subfamily	Plusiinae
Tribe	Plusiini
Genus	Syngrapha

Scientific Name

Syngrapha abstrusa

Common Name

abstruse false looper

Maier, C.T.; Lemmon, C.R.; Fengler, J.M.; Schweitzer, D.F.; Reardon, R.C.; Caterpillars on the Foliage of Conifers in the Northeastern United States. Morgantown, WV. USDA Forest Service. Forest Health Technology Enterprise Team Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station. FHTET-2004-01. March 2004. 151 p.

Description

Green body with pale stripes of varying width. Yellowish green head. Wide, dark green middorsal stripe bordered by broad white stripes; narrower, white subdorsal stripe; white and yellow spiracular stripe with yellow near dark yellow spiracles. Minute black spots circle segments, but visible mainly between subdorsal and spiracular stripes; prolegs only on A5, A6, and A10. Up to 25 mm.

Food

White spruce; possibly jack pine and other conifers.

Life Cycle

One generation. Partly grown caterpillar overwinters. Mature caterpillar present in May and June.

Comments

This species is very closely related to the spruce climbing cutworm, Syngrapha alias. Lafontaine and Poole (1991) have noted that the abstruse false looper is found in well-drained habitats, whereas the spruce climbing cutworm is mainly associated with wetter, often boggy, areas. In Connecticut, the abstruse false looper is commonly found in plantations of white spruce on well-drained soils.