314 MISSOURI AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



idea of the general size, shape and markings of these adults. This figure 

 is natural size, and the one shown at a is also natural size, but has the 

 wings folded, showing the insect at rest. In c the insect is shown twice 

 its natural size. 



The eggs are small, round and whitish or very light yellow in color, 

 and are deposited in rows on grasses and other places, and smeared 

 over with a glutinous secretion from the insect. Figure 57, d, e, f, g, 

 shows these eggs as they appear on grass leaves when magnified two 

 diameters. The larvae or worms, or caterpillars, as many people call 

 them, are, when full grown, about an inch and a half in length, of a dark 

 greenish color, with three stripes along each side. The head is of a greenish 

 brown color, mottled with black, and this mottling is found more or less 

 over the entire body. The stripes along the body are greenish yellow, 

 with whitish margins. A good idea of the general appearance of a larva 

 can be had by referring to figure 59, where the larva will be seen natural 

 size, and to figure 58, where the larvae will b? seen magnified twice their 

 natural size. The pupa stage, which is passed under ground, is not 

 unlike the pupa of a number of other insects, some of which you have 

 probably removed from cocoons. The pupa is dark brown in color and 

 measures about seven-eighths of an inch in length. Two pupae are 

 shown, natural size at a, in figure 60, and two enlarged in the same 

 figure. 



THE LIFE HISTORY AND HABITS. 



The adult moths appear in the spring and seek those places in the 

 fields and meadows where the vegetation grows the rankest, and deposit 

 their eggs in masses under the leaves of grass near the stem. The eggs 

 are placed, as a rule, in a row, and are then smeared over with a glutinous 

 substance that fastens the eggs together and to the leaf. The female, 

 after laying a bunch of eggs in one place, passes on to another suitable 

 place and deposits another bunch of eggs. Each female is capable of 

 laying upwards of several hundred eggs, and herein lies one of the 

 secrets that influences the development of these army-worms at certain 

 times. The moths fly at night, and the depositing of the eggs by the 

 female is done principally in the forepart of the night. During the day- 

 time the moths remain concealed in some shellored place. 



The egg-laying season for Missouri varies from the middle of April 

 in the southern portion of the State to the forepart of May in the north- 

 ern part of the State. A corresponding difference occurs as regards the 



