Whitelined looper

• French common name: Arpenteuse rayée des forêts
• Scientific name: Epirrita pulchraria (Taylor)
• Kingdom: Animalia
• Phylum: Arthropoda
• Class: Insecta
• Order: Lepidoptera
• Family: Geometridae

Distribution

• British Columbia

Generally distributed throughout British Columbia from the Skeena and upper Fraser drainages south.

Damage, symptoms and biology

The whitelined looper is a relatively uncommon solitary defoliator.

Mature larva up to 21 mm long. Head, unmarked green, vertex moderately cleft. Body, lime green; faint dark green middorsal pinstripe; white subdorsal stripe.

This species overwinters in the pupal stage. Adults emerge in June; larvae are present from June to mid-August, and pupation occurs in August.

Canadian Forest Service Publications

Whitelined looper

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 the whitelined looper are western hemlock and Sitka spruce; other hosts include amabilis fir, subalpine fir, Engelmann spruce, white spruce, Douglas-fir, mountain hemlock and western larch.

Main host(s)

• Amabilis fir
• Douglas-fir
• Engelmann spruce
• Mountain hemlock
• Sitka spruce
• Subalpine fir
• Western hemlock
• Western larch
• White spruce

Secondary host(s)

• Red alder
• Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir
• Western redcedar
• White spruce
• Willow

Photos

Dion Manastyrski Centre de foresterie du Pacifique, Victoria (Colombie-Britannique) / Pacific Forestry Centre, Victoria, British Columbia