Escape behaviour of cranberry girdler, Chrysoteuchia topiaria (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), moths.

Chrysoteuchia topiaria (Zeller) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), the cranberry girdler, is a serious pest of cranberry, Vaccinium macrocarpon Aiton (Ericaceae), in North America (Kamm et al. 1990). Chrysoteuchia topiaria is univoltine, with moths emerging and flying in June and July (Kamm et al. 1990). The moths are dayfliers, but also come to light traps at night (Banerjee 1967). When collecting gravid female C. topiaria moths for a laboratory colony, I observed that females were hard to catch because they behaved differently than males. When I approached with a handheld vacuum (Bioquip, Gardena, CA), female moths often dropped from plants, whereas male moths usually flew away. Moths that dropped landed on the trash layer (shed leaves and organic debris on the soil surface under the vines) where they lay motionless on their side until pursued further, when they scurried away by pushing the substrate with their legs.