390 



ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 



OfE. r>oc. 



it. This brood leeds on volunteer grain and grasses and if a trap 

 strip of wheat were planted about the fifth of July it would pro- 

 vide a place for the insects to lay their eggs. This trap strip should 

 be plowed under about the middle of August thus destroying all the 

 insects wliich were in it. Whether this treatment will pay, how- 

 ever, can only be determined in each case by the amount of loss 

 (laused by this insect. 



Fortunately, the wheat-stem maggot is not without enemies which 

 attack it in .such numbers as to prevent its injuries being far more 

 serious than is usuallv the case. 



THE ARMY WORM. 



(Heliophila unipuocta Haw.) 



This well known pest preferably feeds upon grasses, and wheat, 

 oats and corn are therefore favorite articles of food. As it is not 

 limited to these food plants, however, it frequently is seriously de- 



Fig. 3.— The Army Worm Moth, natural 

 size. 



structive to clover, j)eas, apples, cucumbers, barley, rye, etc. With 

 such a range of plants to feed upon, it is fortunate that this insect 

 is not often seriously abundant for more than a year or tw^o at a 

 time. 



Life History. 



The eggs of the Army worm are laid in the spring and the cater- 

 pillars which hatch from them become adult moths in June. These 

 moths lay their eggs for a second brood and the caterpillars of this 

 brood are often so abundant as to do much damage during the month 

 of July. About the end of this month, however, the caterpillars 

 become full grown, cease feeding, enter the ground to pupate and the 

 moths which emerge from them appear in August and lay eggs for 

 a third brood. The caterpillars of this brood are sometimes so 



