Angulated Cutworm (Syngrapha rectangula)

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 rectangula

Common Name

angulated cutworm

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 of about same width; narrower, white subdorsal stripe; mostly yellowish white spiracular stripe. Minute black spots circle segments, but visible mainly between subdorsal and spiracular stripes. White spiracles; prolegs only on A5, A6, and A10. Up to 25 mm.

Food

Balsam fir, eastern hemlock, spruces, and less commonly other conifers.

Life Cycle

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

Comments

In addition to the two species of Syngrapha described in this manual, the spruce climbing cutworm, Syngrapha alias, and the spruce false looper, S. viridisigma, eat conifers in the Pinaceae in the Northeast. Only subtle differences in the color and the width of stripes may separate the caterpillars of these four Syngrapha species.