Spruce climbing cutworm

Latin name: Syngrapha alias (Ottolengui)
French name: Autographe de l'épinette
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Noctuidae

Description

Distribution

Quebec, Newfoundland, Ontario, British Columbia

This species occurs throughout British Columbia; it also occurs north to Great Slave Lake, south to California and east to Newfoundland.

Micro-habitat(s)

Needle

Damage, symptoms and biology

Syngrapha alias is a common solitary defoliator.

Mature larva up to 28 mm long. Head, green unmarked. Body, green, addorsal, subdorsal and spiracular white stripes; addorsal stripes broader than subdorsal and spiracular stripes. Two pairs of midabdominal prolegs instead of the normal four found in other cutworms.

This species overwinters in the larval stage. Larvae are present from May to June, pupation occurs in June, and adults emerge from June through August.

Canadian Forest Service Publications

Spruce climbing cutworm

Diet and feeding behaviour

Phyllophagous : Feeds on the leaves of plants.
- Free-living defoliator: Feeds on and moves about freely on foliage.

Information on host(s)

The principal hosts of Syngrapha alias are Engelmann spruce, white spruce, Sitka spruce, black spruce, western hemlock and Douglas-fir; other hosts include amabilis fir, grand fir and subalpine fir.