New York Agricultural Experiment Station. 405 



cloudy days, or late in the afternoon and early evening. Some- 

 times they will be seen at flowers, but usually these are male 

 moths. If the female moth is noticed on the wing, she is usually 

 darting rapidly from one plant to another hiding under the leaves 

 to deposit her eggs. The eggs are usually deposited singly, but 

 occasionally 3 or 4 eggs will be found in close proximity on 

 the same leaf. Each moth lays about the same number of eggs 

 as does the cabbage butterfly. On Long Island the first eggs are 

 deposited on the same plants as» are those of the cabbage butterfly, 

 and on chickweed and spinach in addition. Later in the season 

 they apparently are not confined to any particular plants while 

 depositing their eggs. The fact that they are swift flyers and are 

 dusky colored probably accounts for their not being seen during 

 the day. Some writers claim that the moths of the cabbage 

 looper are night flyers. They surely do considerable flying dur- 

 ing the day, and I have been unable to capture them at light- 

 traps. This would indicate that they are no more night flyers 

 than is the moth of the corn worm. 



Feeding habits. — The loopers will feed on almost any plant that 

 is succulent and tender, showing very little choice while food is 

 plentiful. After midsummer when food becomes scarce they do 

 their principal feeding upon cauliflower, lettuce and cabbage, but 

 they are not averse to feeding upon any of the following eco- 

 nomic plants: Siberian kale (" sprouts "), kale, broccoli, Brussels 

 sprouts, rape, spinach, celery, tomatoes, cannas, chrysanthemums, 

 carnations, smilax, heliotrope, pelargoniums and various other 

 forcing house plants. They are especially destructive to lettuce 

 in forcing houses, where they will feed and breed all winter. 

 Although they will feed upon almost anything that is green they 

 always show a dislike for old, tough leaves and for leaves that 

 have any foreign substance on the surface. In fact they will 

 not feed upon such leaves unless starved to do so. In cases 

 where cabbage is treated with a dry insecticide it is an easy matter 

 for them to find portions of the plant that are not covered with 



