SOME INJURIOUS INSECTS. 



Part of Bulletin No. 132. 



BY G. C. DAVIS. 



CLIMBING CUTWORMS. 



Climbing cutworms have rarely been foimd injurious to orchards on clay or 

 clay loam soil. For this reason a large proportion of Michigan orchards are not 

 subject to attacks from this insidious pest. The writer has occasionally found their 

 work on light clay soil, and in one such instance several cherry trees had quite 

 a percentage of the buds eaten out, but such cases are exceptional. There are many 

 sandy strips through the state, and particularly along the shore of lake Michigan, 

 where we have our greatest fruitgrowing section. The lighter and more sandy the 

 soil, the more likely it is to be infested with climbing cutworms. In such sections 

 they are present in sufficient numbers to be destructive almost every season. 



Fig. 1. — ^The speckled catworm, Mamistra subjuncta : At the right is the fall-grown catworm and behind 

 it a yoanger one; above is the moth, all natural size. 



My own experiments and observations have been largely at Muskegon the past 

 two seasons. In this work much credit is due Mr. H. C. Rood of that place, who 

 kindly gave me access to his apple orchards of nearly 5,000 trees, and also gave me 

 uiany valuable suggestions from his practical experience with the climbing cut- 

 worms. His first letter to us gives something of an idea of the conditions under 

 which he was laboring at that time, and we can not do better than quote the first 

 part of it, which reads as follows: 

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