Spruce fir looper
- Scientific name: Macaria signaria dispuncta (Walker)
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Arthropoda
- Class: Insecta
- Order: Lepidoptera
- Family: Geometridae
Distribution
- Canada
Damage, symptoms and biology
Macaria signaria dispuncta is a common, occasionally abundant innocuous solitary defoliator.Mature larva up to 22 mm long. Head, yellowish green with broad reddish black lateral bands. Body, green, middorsal line dark green; broad whitish green addorsal stripe; subdorsal white stripe bordered below with fine wavy dark line; supraspiracular stripe green with fine wavy black line; spiracular line whitish green except yellow near the spiracles.
This species overwinters in the pupal stage. Adults emerge from May to June and females lay up to 140 eggs on foliage or lichens. Larvae are present from July to August and pupation occurs in late August.
Canadian Forest Service Publications
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 Macaria signaria dispuncta are Douglas-fir, western hemlock and Engelmann spruce; other hosts include white spruce, Sitka spruce, black spruce, subalpine fir, amabilis fir, grand fir, western larch, tamarack, western redcedar and mountain hemlock.Main host(s)
- Amabilis fir
- Black spruce
- Engelmann spruce
- Grand fir
- Mountain hemlock
- Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir
- Sitka spruce
- Subalpine fir
- Tamarack
- Western hemlock
- Western larch
- Western redcedar
- White spruce
Photos
Dion Manastyrski Centre de foresterie du Pacifique, Victoria (Colombie-Britannique) / Pacific Forestry Centre, Victoria, British Columbia