Entomological Notes. 281 



The true army worm prefers cool, moist localities. It is on the 

 low grass lands where the eggs are usually laid, and the young 

 larva? pass the first two or three weeks of their existence. "When 

 the food in their immediate vicinity is consumed, they migrate to 

 higher grounds, laying waste the grain and grass, corn, and nearly 

 all the garden and field crops that lie along their path. It is sel- 

 dom that they disturb the foliage of trees; never, in fact, except 

 when driven to it by the scarcity of other food. When pinched by 

 hunger they will even devour one another. 



Both the moths and the larva? are to be found every year in 

 greater or less numbers, but a very wet season following an exces- 

 sively dry one, is most favorable for their development. This 

 peculiarity is so marked, in fact, that in localities which have been 

 overrun with them years before, with such a combination of 

 extremes, their appearance can be predicted with great certainty. 

 It is mainly owing to this fact and to the rapid development of 

 their parasite foes, that they are never very troublesome two years 

 in succession. 



The moth (figure 8) of the army worm is of the nocturnal or 

 night-flying species, nearly all, if not all, of which are destructive 

 to veo-etation. There is some variation in the color of the moths, 

 but they are usually of a reddish-brown or fawn color. The body 

 is thick-set and compact in form; the abdomen tapers off quite 

 rapidly and ends in a tuft of short hair. A pair of antenna?, or 

 feelers, extend out from near the head, parallel with the front line 

 of the fore wing. It has two pair of wings, set well forward on the 

 body. The fore wings are long and narrow, the front lines of 

 which make a somewhat acute angle with the head and bodv, and 

 the outer points of which are slightly curved back. Through the 

 middle of the fore wing runs a prominent vein, which at the center 

 of the wing divides into three smaller veins. At this point of di- 

 vision is a small spot of a dusky white color, which gives the moth 

 the distinctive name of unipuncta; there are also lines of darkly- 

 shaded red spots crossing the fore wings, which gives them a dotted 

 appearance. The hind wings are much shorter, broader, thinner in 

 texture, and of a lighter color than the fore wings. The color of 

 both wings is somewhat lighter on the under side than the upper. 

 "When full grown, the wings expand from one and a half to an inch 

 and three-quarters, and when the moth is at rest the hind wings are 



