1224 INSECTS ETC., IN7URIOUS TO VARIOUS CROPS 



larvae concealed therein die on exposure to the sun on the dry soil ; 2) to 

 graze sheep on the cultivated lands : many insects are crushed by the flocks ; 

 3) to spread here and there in the most infected places poisonous substances 

 (for instance arsenic salts) kneaded with bran and molasses, which the in- 

 sects eagerly devour. 



952 - Batrachedra rileyi, a Microlepidoptercus Pest of Maize in America. — 



HARNED R. W., in /o«f«fl/ 0/ £coMO»nsV EnJcmoloty, Vol. 9, No. 2, pp. 295-298, Fig. 2. 

 Concord, N. H., 1916. 



During the last few years, the larvae of the small pink corn worm {Ba- 

 t/achedra rileyi Wals.) have caused much injury to maize, both in the fields 

 and warehouses, in almost all the counties of the State of Mississippi. 



In 1914, the invasion was limited to the central part of the region (county 

 of Attala) from which, in 1915, it reached all the other counties, which 

 caused the gravest anxiety to farmers. 



The writer's obser\^ations during the entomological campaign which 

 he undertook on that occasion may be summed up briefly as follows : 



i) In the plantations affected, the number of infested ears varies 

 from 10 to 99 % and the number of larvae per ear, according to Arnold's 

 figures averages 4 VstJ 2) these larvae partly destroy the rachis and the grains, 

 of which they sometimes devour the whole interior, only leaving the thin 

 external integument intact ; or else they mine tunnels when going from one 

 grain to the other, and will even feed on the grains already injured and gnaw- 

 ed by other insects, often completing the destruction of such grains ; 

 3) in warehouses, the larvae of Batrachedra generally infest the stored ma- 

 terial from November to December, although the}' are often discovered even 

 in April ; 4) plantations situated on hills generalh' suffer much more than 

 those in the plain ; 5) early varieties of maize contain less larvae than late 

 ones ; 6) the parasite usualty attacks the tip of the ear, from which it en- 

 croaches on the other grains and even the rachis ; the frosts in JanuaJ"}' 

 1915 were fatal to a large number of the said larvae. 



9^3 - Variegated Cutworm (Peridroma margaritosa), a Macrolepidopterous 



Pest of the Sugar-beet in California.— Bensel G. E., in Joumal of Economic Entomo- 

 loe;y,Vo\. g, No. 2, pp. 303-306. Concord, N. H., 1916. 



The variegated cutworm [Peridroma margaritosa {saucia) Hiibn., which 

 has become very common in the country' of Ventura, ha,s during the last few- 

 years been responsible for widespread havoc to sugar beet plantations, but 

 especialty when the season was cold and foggy. 



The larvae of the insect remain concealed during the da^- in the ground, 

 at a depth of 3 to 5 cm., and come out at night in search of their food. They 

 sometimes attack the aerial parts of the beet to the extent of entirely 

 stripping them of their foliage. In some cases the attack extends to the 

 roots, which are more or less spoilt and gnawed. 



Among the natural enemies of Peridroma there are two species of Calo- 

 soma : C. semilaeve I,ev. and C. cancellatum Esch. 



The following artificial means of control have been successfully ap- 

 pHed : i) the application of arsenical compounds by means of sprayers 



