Cabbage Looper

Loopers are green caterpillars that have a narrow, white stripe along each side and several narrow lines down the back; they move with a characteristic arching or looping motion with the help of three pairs of true legs in the front and three pairs of false legs towards the end. Eggs are similar in appearance to corn earworm eggs but are flatter and laid singly on the undersides of leaflets. Adult moths have brown, mottled forewings marked in the center with a small, silver figure 8.

Young larvae feed primarily on the undersides of leaves, skeletonizing them. High numbers can damage fruit but this is very uncommon.

Insecticide applications for loopers are seldom necessary in strawberries because they are frequently controlled by naturally occurring parasitic wasps and seldom feed on fruit. If insecticide applications are necessary, time them to egg hatch.

Loopers are commonly controlled by parasitic wasps Hyposoter exiguae, Copidosoma truncatellum, and Trichogramma spp., and by outbreaks of nuclear polyhedrosis virus.

Use biological controls, as well as sprays of Bacillus thuringiensis and the Entrust formulation of spinosad on organically certified strawberries.

Cabbage looper is most likely to become a pest in strawberries when the field is planted next to lettuce fields. There are no established treatment thresholds for cabbage loopers in strawberries. If an insecticide application is necessary, the preferred practice is to apply Bacillus thuringiensis just after egg hatch. Eggs are often found when monitoring mites with a leaf-brushing machine. Save a few leaves with eggs and observe when egg hatch begins and apply an insecticide. When monitoring other pests, look for signs of looper feeding such as leaflets with holes, feces, and caterpillars feeding at the edge of a hole.