The biology and external morphology of the Hemlock Looper, Lambodina Fiscellaria Fiscellaria (Guenee), in Newfoundland (Lepidoptera, Geometridae).

The hemlock looper, Lambdina fiscellaria fiscellaria (Guenée), has been an important forest pest in Newfoundland for many years. Outbreaks have been reported from widely separated parts of the province, and in most cases, there has been a high mortality of balsam fir, Abies balsamea (L.) Mill. (Fig. l). A study of the insect was initiated in the spring of 1950, in Newfoundland, by the Division of Forest Biology, Dominion Department of Agriculture. The object of the study was to determine what factors influence the rise and fall of looper populations. Unfortunately, the outbreak had reached its peak when the study was started. In 1951 populations had fallen to an endemic level, resulting in rather meagre information on many aspects of the investigation. Biological and population studies of the hemlock looper and associated insects were carried out by the writer and an assistant at a summer field station established near Lake St. George, St. George’s District, Newfoundland. The station was used from May to September in 1950 and 1951. Studies on the external morphology of all developmental stages of the species were made at the Dominion Entomological Laboratory, Fredericton, N. B. Morphological studies were conducted to discover if specimens found in Newfoundland and New Brunswick are conspecific. Although climatic conditions and forest composition are fairly similar in both provinces the looper has never been a serious pest in the latter. [...