266 MANUAL OF VEGETABLE-GARDEN INSECTS 



stems of plants, usually near the ground. Each female may lay 

 from 200 to 400 eggs. The egg is dome-shaped, about -^ inch 

 in diameter, and creamy white when laid, becoming darker 

 before hatching. At the top there is a slight depression from 

 which radiate many ridges extending to the base of the egg. 



In Illinois, eggs laid in July were observed to hatch in twenty- 

 two days, while in Hawaii they hatch in only two or four days. 

 The young caterpillars are pale green, the black tubercles on 

 the segments showing prominently. Later the pale longitudinal 

 stripes become evident. When full-grown the caterpillar is li 

 to If inches in length, of a nearly uniform dark greasy gray 



color with an indistinct mid- 

 dorsal yellow line and two 

 faint lateral stripes. It is 

 dark greenish yellow be- 

 neath. In the summer the 

 caterpillars require at least 

 a month to reach maturity. 

 They are voracious feeders 

 and have developed to a 



Fig. 157. — The greasy cutworm moth 1-,^^]-^ degree the habit of 

 (natural size). rv . j i ^ A 



cutting on tender plants and 

 dragging them to their burrows. They feed mostly at night 

 and during the day remain hidden in burrows an inch or so 

 from the surface of the ground. 



The mature caterpillars transform in earthen cells a short 

 distance below the surface into brownish pup?e about f inch 

 in length. Observations in Canada indicate that the length of 

 the pupal period in late summer is about three weeks, while in 

 Illinois in early summer it is four weeks ; in Hawaii the pupal 

 period is ten days to three weeks. 



In Canada there are two broods annually, the larvae of the 

 second brood hibernating in a partly grown condition. This 

 is probably general for the northern United States and Canada, 



