CUT-WOKM MOTHS. 8 1 



on a damp piece of ground were growing small clumps 

 of a species of Jiiucus, the plants being from 1 to about 

 2 feet high, and on the tops of the stems the dead and 

 dying caterpillars could be seen in thousands. They 

 appear to crawl to the top of the stems of this plant, 

 fasten themselves tightly on, and as the fungus starts 

 generally (in some instances it might commence from the 

 head) from the lower part of the body it gradually rots 

 the caterpillar away, and, in numerous instances, pieces 

 may be seen dropping off. Frequently I noticed the 

 lower half of the caterpillar having fallen away, and the 

 remaining part still alive. The caterpillar gradually rots 

 away, the head and forelegs only remaining fastened to 

 the plant. The caterpillars when attacked by the fungus 

 have a sickly appearance, assuming a light-greyish colour 

 outside, but the fluid in the body of the grubs from the 

 eflPect of the fungus is of a dark greyish-green colour. 

 This fungus must destroy the caterpillars rapidly, for on 

 my visit to the spot where they were observed the first 

 day, I collected fully 200 of them (more or less affected 

 with the fungus), but on visiting the same locality the 

 following morning for fresh specimens, the ones I had 

 left on the previous day (probably about 150) were all 

 dead, and their remains hanging to the tops of the plants. 

 I examined the crops in the immediate vicinity, but could 

 find iio traces whatever of damage done to them by these 

 ' Cut-worms,' the native grasses, as far as I could see, 

 being the only plants afiected. In the mallee, near Lake 

 Albacutya, on one of the sheep stations a splendid patch 

 (abo.ut a mile long by half-a-mile wide) of native pasture 

 grasses was found in the same condition as at Myrniong, 

 the caterpillars having practically destroyed every blade 

 of grass, and on the dried stems countless numbers of the 

 remains of dead caterpillars were observed." 



We have here a pest which has hitherto caused an 

 immense amount of damage to the farming, grazing, and 

 dairying industry in Victoria and elsewhere, and although 

 the study of such pests must necessarily be done in the 



11597. F 



