90 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS, 



March 25, 1905. 



INSECT NOTES. 



The Com Ear Worm. 



The Corn Ear Worm and the effects of its feeding are 

 well known to planters in the West Indies. In every croii 

 of corn there are ears in which the grain has been eaten 

 from the tips, the ears sometimes being totally destroj'ed. 

 The leaves also of the corn plant suffer from the 

 deiiredations of this insect. Down in the crown of the 

 young plant one or more of the larvae eat into the tender 

 leaves, which, when e.xtended and spread out, show the 

 results in their ragged and perforated appearance. It is 

 likelj-, however, that the api'earance of the adult is not so 

 well known, noi-, [wssibly, are the habits and life history. 

 Specimens from St. Vincent and Barbados sent for identifica- 

 tion to the Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Department of 

 Agriculture, were determined to be Luphyrpna fru'jiix'rda, 

 and the following account is largely taken from Bulletin 29 

 issued by that Bureau. 



The moth which i>roduces the Fall Army Worm, as it is 

 known in the United States, is a member of the family 

 Noctuidae. It is quite variable, there being two distinct 

 forms, in one of which (fig. 6 a.) the forewings are rather 

 dull greyish-brown above; in the other the colour and pattern 

 are more like tliat slinwn at A. (fig. 6). The hind wings are 



glistening white with 

 ro.sy refiections, having 

 a slightly smokey area, 

 with an inner dark 

 line along the posterior 

 borders, where the veins 

 are. also dark and 

 distinct. 



The egg, very 

 much enlarged, is 

 shown at a. (fig. 7), 

 the upper figure show- 

 ing the side view and 

 the lower the top view. 

 The diameter of the 

 egg is about ^V inch. 

 The eggs are laid in 

 Fill. 0. Laph!i,jnw fni;i!p,mhi.-a. clusters of fifty to sixty 

 moth, iilain i<rav torni ; o, turewint' i , 



c ' " •' I. 1 e 1 or more and covered 



01 more (irnaniintal torm ; c, larva . 



extended ; ,/, al)d,.minal segment of "'i^li mouse-coloured 



larva, lateral view ; c, pupa, lateral down from the body 



view.— (7, twice natural .size; ntliers of the [wrent (fig. 7 6.). 



enlarged une-fi'iirtli. The larva when 



[From Bulletin -i!*. Bureau uf Entonio- ^'''^ hatched (fig. 7 c.) 



logy, r. S. Department of i« nearly black in 



Agriculture] general appearance, 



with large black 



head, and hairy body. After feeding for a few days the 



larva becomes greenish from the food it has eaten. The 



same variability in colour seen in the mature insects is to be 



seen in the caterpillars. When full-grown they measure 



about 11 inches in length. The body is strii>ed on a ground 



colour which varies from pale yellowish-brown to black, 



more or less strongly streaked with dull yellow. Three thin 





Flii. 7. Ltijtlijiijma fniiji- 

 peitla. — ((, egg from side 

 in upper figure, from 

 above in lower figure ; /*, 

 egg clustre ; c, newly 

 hatchedlarva. — o, c, mucli 

 magnified ; /«, somewhat 

 enlarged. [Iliid.] 



stripes of pale yellow extend along the dorsal surface, the 



middle one is nearly straight, the two side ones slightly 



sinuate with the prominence of 



each segment. On each side 



there is a broad yellow undulating 



line, somewhat mottled with red. 



The under surface is pale, varj'ing 



from dull yellow to greenish, 



sometimes mixed with red. 



The pupa is about | inch in 

 length, mahogany-brown in colour, 

 blunt and rounded at the anterior 

 end, (Kiinted, and tii>ped with two 

 small spines at the posterior end. 

 In the United States grasses are 

 the favourite food of this insect, 

 with corn perhajis next in favour. 

 It is recorded, however, as attack- 

 ing a great number of other plants, 

 when it occurs in large numbers 

 and its favourite foods become 

 scarce. 



In the bulletin from which the preceding statements are 

 taken it is stated that the larva goes into the ground to 

 pupate. In the West Indies the pujia is very frequently 

 found in the ear of corn. There are two or three generations 

 each year in America, but it is not known how many occur 

 in these islands. The length of time required for the life- 

 cycle is, however, short and probably there are several broods. 

 The cater|>illars are cannibals and when several are together 

 only one or two reach maturity, the others having fallen 

 victims to their companions. This may account for the fact 

 that only a few larvae are to lie found in the crown of any 

 corn jilant or in a single ear. 



lluUetin 48 of the Florida Agricultural Ivxiieriment 

 Station gives the following method of dealing with this pest 

 in corn, which would jirobaljly be efticient and easy of 

 aiqilication in the West Indies : — 



'When the cateriiillars are feeding in the crown of the 

 plant they may be poisoned by a mixture consisting of half 

 a teaspoonful of Paris green thoroughly stirred with 1 c[uart 

 of corn meal. This may be ajiplied by means of a sprinkler 

 made by iiunching a large number of fine holes in the bottom 

 of a tobacco tin and shaking the poisoned meal from it into 

 the crown of the plant. This would probably prevent serious 

 injury to the leaves, and by reducing the number of moths in 

 the succeeding brood protect the ear.s, to a large extent.' 



References to the occurrence of this pest in corn in the 

 West Indies will be found in the Agricultural News (Vol. I, 

 p. 184; Vol. II, p. 216 ; and Vol. Ill, p. 410). It has once 

 been recorded as attacking cotton bolls in Barbados in the 

 same way as the cotton boll worm (.see Agricultural Keu's, 

 Vol. Ill, p. 426). 



Mungoose and ' Bull Frogs.' Mr. A. J. Jordaa 



writes from Antigua that he had observed a mungoose- 

 with a 'bull frog' in its mouth and mentions that he was not 

 aware that the 'bull frog' was among the creatures eaten b^' 

 the mungoose. In Barbados it is well known that the 

 mungoose eats the 'bull frog.' Heaps of bones and debris 

 of this animal are to be ob.served outside the holes frequented 

 by the mungoo.se. As the 'bull frog,' which is really a toad, 

 destroys insects and slugs, it deserves to be encouraged 

 everywhere in these islands. An account of the usefulness 

 of the toad will be found in the Agricultural News, Vol. Ill 

 p. .362. 



