The Army- worm. 237 



It is a curious fact that no one seems to have discovered what 

 the parents of the army- worms were like until 1855, when Mr. 

 Kirkpatrick reared some of the moths in Ohio. It was not until 

 1 86 1 that Dr. Fitch, then State Entomologist of New York, iden- 

 tified the army-worm moth as the same insect which had been 

 described in England fifty years before. 



Previous army-wo?ni years in New York. — Apparently the first 

 record of the occurrence of the army -worm in New York state is 

 the following taken from the Albany Argus for 181 7 : "The 

 black worm is destroying the vegetation in the northern towns of 

 Rensselaer and the eastern section of Saratoga counties. Many 

 meadows and pastures have been rendered by their depredations 

 as barren as a heath." 



The insect does not seem to have again attracted attention in 

 our state for forty-four years or until 1861.* This is by far 

 the most celebrated of the army- worm years, because the worms 

 appeared in destructive numbers over an immense extent of coun- 

 try (twenty states were damaged to a greater or less extent), and 

 also because this outbreak called forth several elaborate articles 

 by the leading writers upon insects. In New York state the 

 worms appeared in the vicinity of Buffalo, and at several other 

 points towards the western and southern line of the state ; and 

 also in many places on lyOng Island. 



In 1872, an arm)^ of the worms was reported from Tioga 

 County. Again in 1875, which was a notable army-worm year 

 throughout the country, the insect was very destructive in the 

 same county and was reported as swarming on Long Island. Dr. 

 I<intner states {Country Gentleman, 1877, p. 347) that the worms 

 abounded in many portions of the state in 1876 and did serious 

 damage, but the next year the moths were rarely seen. 1880 was 

 also a notable army-worm year, especially in New York state. 

 The worms were destructive in the southern and eastern counties 

 of the state in August, and on L,ong Island the damage done in 

 June was very great, creating much alarm. Bushels of the worms 



*Dr. Riley states (3(1 Rapt. Ent. Com., p. 95) : " From an old number of 

 the Country Gentlevian, we learn that it did some damage in western New 

 York. ' ' We have been unable to find this reference, nor does Dr. Fitch refer 

 to it in his detailed account published in 1861. 



