CORN INSECTS 213 



pale spot and there is usually a dark spot near the middle of the 

 wing. The flight of the moths is low, swift and irregular. They 

 lay their eggs mostl}' on dark days or at dusk. The eggs are 

 deposited singly on the leaves and stems of tomato, tobacco 

 and cotton, and on the leaves, tassels and silk of corn, the last 

 being preferred above all others for oviposition. Each female 

 is capable of laying from 500 or 600 to over 2500 eggs. The egg 

 (Fig. 134) is a little less than -^^ inch in diameter, waxy white, 

 faintly tinged with yellowish, nearly globular, with the base 

 flattened and the tip depressed. The surface is marked with a 

 series of ridges radiating from the tip. The first moths usually 

 appear in the spring and are ready to lay their 

 eggs before corn is available. Under such cir- 

 cumstances, eggs are deposited on early to- 

 matoes, peas and beans. The time required 

 for the hatching of the eggs varies with the 

 temperature. In April they hatch in about a ^^^': i^^- ~" ^^g 



, . , . " , , of the corn ear- 



week, m the summer m two or three days worm (x 30). 

 and in the late fall in two weeks or over. The 

 newly hatched larva is a little over ^t ii^<^*h in length, nearly 

 white, with the head and cervical shield black and the body 

 marked with numerous small black tubercles. In the course 

 of its development, the caterpillar usually passes through six 

 stages but sometimes may pupate after the fifth stage. In the 

 spring the caterpillars reach maturity in about a month ; in 

 the summer, in from eleven days to three weeks, and in late 

 fall, the larval period is again lengthened with the decreasing 

 temperature. The corn ear- worm belongs to the same family 

 as the cutworms and resembles them in general appearance. 

 The full-grown caterpillar (Fig. 135) is l^ to 2 inches in length, 

 varying from light green to brown. The coloration is highly 

 variable but the caterpillar is usually marked with longitudinal 

 stripes, the most distinct one being a pale stigmatal stripe 

 edged above with blackish. There is a dark stripe along the 



