PKACTICAL ENTOMOLOGY. 423 



and has been quite destructive at Waterville. While the larva seemed to pre- 

 fer strawberry, it ate readily of other plants, especially pear and asparagus. 

 The name Black Army-worm is not inappropriate. The velvety- black stripes 

 along the body of the larva, especially till after the last molt, are so con- 

 spicuous that the larvae appear very black, and when I say that in a meadow 

 tlaat I visited at West Bay City, the caterpillars were so numerous that to step 

 was to kill a score, I make it clear that the word Army-worm is no misnomer. 



The larvaB feed mostly by night and hide in the grass, just at the surface 

 of the earth, or under some clod, by day. On damp, cloudy days, however, 

 like the other species of this genus — cut-worms — they not infrequently work 

 by daylight. Their food consists of nearly every green thing: onions, peas, 

 buds of fruit trees, every garden flower and plant, grass, clover, and even 

 dock and mullein were made to contribute to their nourishment. They wore 

 especially harmful to strawberry vines. In Bay City some of the gardens 

 were utterly stripped of the early vegetables. 



The larv?e were first observed about April 20th; but some of these were 

 certainly three weeks from hatching. On May 20th, I found some about half 

 grown ; others fully grown. Attev June 1st, very few larvse were to be found. 

 The pupa3 were found at varying depths in the earth, from two inches to a 

 foot. The pupa stage lasts two or three weeks. Thus the moths will be 

 coming from the earth from June 15th till the middle of July. 



DESCRIPTION". 



I have been unable to secure the eggs, and so cannot describe them. It is 

 probable that they are laid on grass and other plants at or near the ground. 



The larva (Fig. 1) has three velvety-black, 

 longitudinal lines of about equal width, one on 

 _j^^v ^ the back and one on each side. Between the 

 dorsal and each lateral line, is a light line which 

 °' ■ is as wide as the black lines. The upper half of 



this light-colored line is thickly mottled with white and black spots, 

 the white color prevailing, and the white spots being largest below. 

 Below the mottled line, we find a narrow black line; and, below this, a nar- 

 row white line. Close examination shows tliat both these lines are broken in 

 many places, white interrupting the black line, and vice versa. Below each 

 lateral black line is another light-colored line, not quite as wide as the black 

 lines. These light lines have a central line of black, which, however, is 

 much interrupted by white. The white margins of these lines are somewhat 

 broken with black. The upper light lines do not extend to the cervical shield 

 or to the anal plate. In some specimens the wliite mentioned above is quite 

 yellowish. Beneath, the body varies much, from nearly black, gray, or 

 brown, to olivaceous. The sides of the head, mouth-parts, legs, and anal 

 area are brown. The top of the head, cervical shield, and anal plate are 

 black, the two former having a white central line, which in case of the head 

 is forked above. There are scattering white hairs all over the body, which 

 are most numerous on the under side and on the legs. After the last molt, 

 the black is replaced by a grayish-brown, the white is more yellowish, and 

 the color beneath decidedly olivaceous. When mature the 

 larva is 3.75 cm., or 1| inch long. The pupa (Fig. 2) is 1.9 

 "^^ cm., or -2- of an inch long. Except that it has a terminal 

 Fig. 2. forked spine, it is in no wise peculiar. 

 The moth (Fig. 3) which was kindly identified for me by my friend. 

 Prof. J. A . Xiintner, looks strikingly like many of our common cut-worm moth™ 



