Loopers
Loopers are green with several white stripes down their backs. They arch their backs as they
crawl, this looping movement giving them their name. The most common looper is the cabbage looper,
Trichoplusia ni.
Identification of species
Life cycle
Eggs are laid singly on undersides of older leaves; eggs are dome-shaped with ridges. The larvae occur primarily on the underside of leaves and are easily recognized by their habit of arching their backs. They feed mostly on mature foliage. The pupa is enclosed in a thin silk cocoon spun on the underside of mature leaves, in the crown of the plant, or in debris on the ground.
Damage
Loopers eat irregular holes in leaves, most often older leaves. They may also bore holes in lettuce
and cabbage heads or damage fruit.
Solutions
Handpick. Apply Bacillus
thuringiensis or spinosad;
they are effective against loopers, especially
when caterpillars are small. Natural control
by viral
diseases, general
predators, and parasites
(Hyposoter, Copidosoma, Trichogramma) is
often effective. Floating
row covers can prevent
egg laying. |
Adult cabbage looper
Looper caterpillar
Feeding damage to cabbage
|
