Sept. 4 . 1916 Life History of Army Cutworm 875 



In the early part of the evening one moth was caught, but a violent storm 

 came up, preventing further search. 



From this time until late in September, as recorded below, no moths 

 were seen out of doors either at Willow Creek or elsewhere in the State. 

 An electric-light moth trap was kept in use on fair, warm nights at Boze- 

 man all summer, but no moths of this species were captured until late 

 in September. Gillette 1 mentions what he considers to be two broods 

 of the moths, one occurring between April 16 and July 10 and the other 

 between September 13 and October 12. Wolley-Dod 2 records the cap- 

 ture of C. auxiliaris, C. int.ro ferens , and C. agrestis in Alberta, Canada, in 

 June and July and states that one specimen each of C. introf evens and C. 

 agrestis was captured on September 9. One individual of C. agrestis was 

 captured on May 19. Gillette also points out that he had been unable 

 to find fully developed ova in the females of the first brood, though 

 hundreds were dissected and examined, while dissected specimens of 

 the fall brood, almost without exception, contained fully formed ova. 

 This observation is of much importance and has been verified by the 

 present author as stated elsewhere. It gives strong support to the 

 conclusions of the present paper regarding the number of broods in the 

 annual cycle. It also indicated that the ova are developed on food 

 obtained as an adult rather than as a larva. 



OBSERVATIONS ON THE EGG-LAYING HABITS OF THE SPECIES 



On September 30 Assistant Entomologist J. R. Parker, of the Montana 

 Station, while out on the college farm, saw noctuid moths flying in fair 

 abundance. One was captured and brought in. On close examination 

 it turned out to be a much-rubbed female of C. auxiliaris. Mr. Parker 

 and the writer returned to the field at once to watch the moths. They 

 were laying eggs in abundance directly upon the soil — not on plants, as 

 had been expected. During the next few days extended definite observa- 

 tions on the egg-laying habits of the species were made on the college 

 farm. 



Several pieces of land had been recently plowed and harrowed. One 

 field of 10 to 12 acres had been particularly well prepared for seeding 

 some days earlier and was nearly free from vegetation, though a few 

 grains and weed seedlings and grasses were to be found. The moths were 

 seen in abundance on the soil in this field in fair weather day after day. 



Egg laying was confined to the warm afternoons, and the moths were 

 most active in the latter part of the day, from 3 o'clock until sunset. 

 The mornings in October in Bozeman are generally quite cold, but a few 

 warm forenoons occurred during which an unsuccessful attempt was 

 made to observe egg laying in the field. By looking toward the west into 



1 Gillette, C P. Some of the more important insects of 1903. In Colo. Agr. Exp. Sta. Bui. 94 (Tech. 

 Ser. 6), p. 6. 1904. 



2 Wolley-Dod, F. H. Preliminary list of the Macro-Lepidoptera of Alberta, N.-W. T. In Canad. Ent., 

 v. 37, no. 2, p. 49. 1905. 



