''Acrobasis vaccinii'', the cranberry fruitworm, is a

moth Moths are a group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not Butterfly, butterflies. They were previously classified as suborder Heterocera, but the group is Paraphyly, paraphyletic with respect to butterflies (s ...

of the family

Pyralidae The Pyralidae, commonly called pyralid moths, snout moths or grass moths, are a family of Lepidoptera in the ditrysian superfamily Pyraloidea. In many (particularly older) classifications, the grass moths (Crambidae) are included in the Pyr ...

described by

Charles Valentine Riley Charles Valentine Riley (18 September 1843 – 14 September 1895) was a British-born American entomologist and artist. He was one of the first individuals to use biological pest control and authored over 2,400 publications. He convinced Congress ...

in 1884. It is found in North America from

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

and from

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, it is introduced in the state of

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

. The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the opposite wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingsp ...

is 16–18 mm. Acrobasis vaccinii

The larvae feed on ''

Vaccinium corymbosum ''Vaccinium corymbosum'', the northern highbush blueberry, is a North American species of blueberry. Other common names include blue huckleberry, tall huckleberry, swamp huckleberry, high blueberry, and swamp blueberry. Description ''Vaccinium ...

'', ''

Vaccinium macrocarpon ''Vaccinium macrocarpon'', also called large cranberry, American cranberry and bearberry, is a North American species of cranberry in the subgenus '' Oxycoccus''. The name cranberry comes from shape of the flower stamen, which looks like a cran ...

'', ''

Vaccinium vitis-idaea ''Vaccinium vitis-idaea'' is a small evergreen shrub in the heath family, Ericaceae. It is known colloquially as the lingonberry, partridgeberry, foxberry, mountain cranberry, or cowberry. It is native to boreal forest and Arctic tundra throug ...

'' and ''

Vaccinium stamineum ''Vaccinium stamineum'', commonly known as deerberry, tall deerberry, highbush huckleberry, buckberry, and southern gooseberry, is a species of flowering plant in the heath family.Hill, S. RConservation Assessment for Deerberry (''Vaccinium stami ...

''. Larvae feed inside a berry until most of its contents have been consumed. Larvae are mostly green, with some brownish-red pigmentation on the dorsal surface, and grow to about half an inch before pupation. Full-grown larvae over winter in a cocoon, and emerge as adults after full bloom and fruit set. Female moths lay their eggs on the fruit, usually on or within the calyx cup of unripe berries. One generation emerges each year, with each larvae feeding on as many as eight berries to complete its development.

Monitoring and control

Monitoring the flight of the moths using

pheromone trap A pheromone trap is a type of insect trap that uses pheromones to lure insects. Sex pheromones and aggregating pheromones are the most common types used. A pheromone-impregnated lure is encased in a conventional trap such as a bottle trap, delta ...

s is essential for optimizing pesticide treatments. One particular pheromone lure, ISCAlure-Vaccinii, developed and manufactured by ISCA Technologies in Riverside, California, has been shown to be a highly effective tool for monitoring this pest. Alternatively, calyx ends of the berries can be inspected for eggs by experienced scouts. The eggs are flat, white, scale-like, and quite small, so this will probably require a hand lens. One method of control is to pick off infested berries. In larger fields, where such measures are impractical, treatments with broad-spectrum insecticides, such as Danitol,

Asana An āsana (Sanskrit: आसन) is a body posture, originally and still a general term for a sitting meditation pose,Verse 46, chapter II, "Patanjali Yoga sutras" by Swami Prabhavananda, published by the Sri Ramakrishna Math p. 111 and late ...

, Mustang Max, or Imidan, may be required.Philip E. Marucci Center for Blueberry and Cranberry Research, "Cranberry fruitworm." http://pemaruccicenter.rutgers.edu/assets/PDF/Blueberry/iCranberry_Fruitworm.pdf Due to the increasingly negative public perception of these insecticides, a number of "softer" materials have been introduced in recent years, including Assail, Altacor, Avaunt, or Delegate.

References

External links

Species info

Fruitworm factsheet
Moths described in 1884 Acrobasis Moths of North America {{Acrobasis-stub