Cranberry Blossomworm - Cooperative Extension: Cranberries - University of Maine Cooperative Extension

Order: Lepidoptera || Family: Noctuidae Scientific Name: Epiglaea apiata (Grote)

: Cranberry blossomworm caterpillar

: a mature Cranberry blossomworm larva feeding on cranberry foliage in a Maine cranberry bed

: Cranberry blossomworm caterpillar (they can vary in body color but they all have a white stripe)

: Cranberry blossomworm feeding on cranberry leaves in Maine

: Cranberry is preferred, but here is a pair of Cranberry blossomworm larvae feeding on some wild blueberry leaves (wild blueberry was substituted in captivity for cranberry when cranberry wasn’t readily available)

: Another view of Cranberry blossomworm larvae feeding on some wild blueberry leaves

Notes: This member of the cutworm group appears quite consistently each year on Maine cranberry beds, but rarely do its numbers—independent of other caterpillar pests—reach threshold levels [two exceptions to that occurred during the 2015 and 2019 seasons when numbers in