INSECTS INJURIOUS TO CORN. 



28 = 







the poisoned bran method; and the fact that these cutworms lay their 

 eggs almost exclusively in grass fields, and that the eggs are deposited 

 during August and the fore- 

 part of September, necessi- 

 tates the plowing of the 

 grass field during August 

 preceding the year in which 

 we wish to sow it to corn. 

 It is also possible to sow 

 corn late in June and escape 

 the attack of these insects, 

 because of the fact that the 



1 11 r -1 1 4.U • Fig. 41. — The Glossy Cutworm, Hadena devasta- 



bulk of them make their tnx. Larvae; enlarged. 



pupae during the first half of July. 



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iiii 



THE BRONZE CUTWORM. 

 Nephelodes minians, Guen. 



The bronze cutworm is one of our largest cutworms, measuring, 

 when full grown, about one and three-fourths inches in length. The 

 larvae are alternately striped with olive bronze and yellow, and the head 

 and shield are yellowish-gray. Figure 43 represents two of these larvae 

 enlarged. They can be easily distinguished from the other cutworms by 

 referring to the figure and the description. 



These bronze cutworms seem to prefer timothy grass, and do not 

 eat clover. They frequently occur in such numbers as to completely 

 destroy the timothy fields, in which 

 case they also have the habit of mi- 

 grating, sometimes in a mass similar 

 to army-worms, and scattering over 

 the neighborhood in search of food. 

 They will also migrate to the corn, in 

 which case they will devour the entire 

 corn plant in a way similar to the work 



of the army-worm, instead of cutting , Fig. 42.— The Bronze Cutworm. Nep- 

 •' ° helodes mtnians. Adult Moth; natural 



down plants, as most of our cutworms '''^®- 



do. These larvae are most active and abundant in April and May, and 

 by the fifteenth of June all of them have entered the ground, where they 

 remain in a dormant condition until the last of July or during August, 

 when they transform to the pupae stage, the adults appearing in August 

 and September and even into October. Figure 42 represents an adult 

 natural size. They then immediately lay eggs in the timothy field for 



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