262 MANUAL OF VEGETABLE-GARDEN INSECTS 



damage. In this account all the more important facts known 

 regarding each species are presented but much remains to be 

 learned of their habits and life histories. Here is a fruitful 

 field of investigation which warrants more attention than it 

 has received in the past. 



The Spotted Cutworm 



Noctua c-nigrum Linnaeus 



In the northern United States and Canada the spotted cut- 

 worm is one of the most common and troublesome species. 

 It is generally distributed throughout the northern hemisphere. 

 In Asia it is found as far south as northern India ; it ranges 

 throughout all of Europe and in North America is most abun- 

 dant in the northern United States and Canada and has been 

 reported from IMexico. This cutworm is a general feeder attack- 

 ing cabbage, tomato, turnip, potato, celery, rhubarb, onion, 

 pea, beet, carrot, mangel, corn, grasses, clover, violet, ferns, 

 lobelia, helianthus and chicory. As a climber it is reported as 

 injurious to the tips and buds of cranberry in ^Massachusetts ; 

 it also feeds on currant and gooseberry. The caterpillars of 

 the July brood sometimes injure the fruit of the tomato. In 



_ years of great abundance 



they may assume the army- 

 worm habit. 



Fig. 153. — The spotted cutworm So far aS knoWU, the 



^^ ^^'' spotted cutworms pass the 



winter as partly grown caterpillars. They become mature in 

 early spring. The larva is 1^ inches in length, of a pale brownish 

 to ashy gray color. This species may be easily recognized by 

 a double row of oblique triangular black spots on the dorsal 

 surface of the abdominal segments. These spots increase in 

 size and distinctness towards the posterior end of the body 

 (Fig. 153). On the side there is a more or less distinct dark 



mm 



