PEST PROFILES: MOTH AND BUTTERFLY CATERPILLARS

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Looper Cabbage Looper (Adult) Click on image to view larger.

Loopers Description: Cabbage looper larvae grow to 2 inches long, are light green and have 3 pairs of "true" legs plus pairs of prolegs on the 3rd, 4th and 6th segments behind the last pair of true legs. Wingspan is 1 1/2 inch, each forewing marked with a pair of characteristic silver markings resembling a "V" or an "8" with an open end. Other looper species include celery looper and soybean looper. Damage: One of the most common larvae found in garden and bedding plants. Larvae feed on tender leaves, causing skeletonization and defoliation, with injury being most severe on the upper portions. Host plants are primarily legumes. Life cycle: Overwinters as pupae inside a cocoon attached by one end to a plant. Adults emerge in spring. Eggs are smooth, light green and slightly flat, hatch in 3 days. Develop through several instars in 4 weeks before spinning a silk cocoon in which to pupate. Adults emerge in 13 days. Development from egg to adult can be completed in 35 days. Four generations or more can be produced each year.