THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 



161 



Natural Enemies. — By far the most important factors in the con- 

 trol of army and cut worms are natural enemies. The parasitic tachinicl 



Hies kill countless numbers of the worms. Hymen- 

 opterous parasites of the family Ichneumonida' also 

 prey upon the young. The predaceous ground 

 beetles of the family Carahidce devour the worms 

 and destroy great numbers. That these worms are 

 not injurious every year is due wholly to the work 

 of these natural enemies. 



THE ALFALFA LOOPER. 



Aufograplia gamma califondca Speyer (Family Noctuidse). 



(Fig. 144.) 



General Appearance. — The adult moths have a 

 wing expanse of about one and one fourth inches 

 with the body a little over one half an inch long. 

 The fore wings are light bluish-gray with rose or 

 rust-colored and light markings, a very distinctive 

 feature of which is one shaped like the Greek 

 letter gamma near the middle. The hind wings 

 and body are dull gray. The eggs are hemispherical 

 and pale yellow. 



The young caterpillars are light green while the fully developed 

 forms are dark olive-green; head light green; three dark longitudinal 



Fig. 143. — A car- 

 abid beetle (Calo- 

 soma c a li d u m 

 Fab. ) whicli preys 

 upon army and cut 

 worms in the Mid- 

 dle a n d Eastern 

 States. This bee- 

 tle does not occur 

 in California, but 

 there are m any 

 carabids here look- 

 ing like this ex- 

 cept that they are 

 wholly black. 

 (Aftei Lugger.) 



Fig. 144. — The alfalfa looper (Autoc/rapha gamma calif ornica Speyer). a and b, 

 dorsal and lateral views of the larvEe ; adult moth at the right. All enlarged. 

 (After Hyslop. ) 



lines on the body ; a dark spot back of the eye. There are three pairs 

 of well-developed front legs, two pairs of abdominal legs just back 

 of the middle, and one pair at the extreme posterior end. When full 

 grown the larv» attain a length of about one inch. The cocoon is locsely 

 spun of white silk ; the chrysalis being brownish black in color, or paler. 

 9— II 



