276 MANUAL OF VEGETABLE-GAHDEN INSECTS 



References 



Lugger, 2nd Rept. State Ent. Minn., pp. 20-22. 1896. 

 Dept. Agr. Canada Ent. Bull. 10, pp. 27-28. 1915. 



The Variegated Cutworm 



Peridroma margaritosa Haworth 



The variegated cutworm is nearly cosmopolitan in its dis- 

 tribution, occurring in North and South America, the West 

 Indies, Europe, northern Africa, southeastern Asia and Hawaii. 

 In Europe it is of little economic importance but in the northern 

 United States and Canada it is one of our most abundant and 

 destructive cutworms. It is always present in greater or 

 lesser numbers in this region and occasionally severe outbreaks 

 occur when the caterpillars become so numerous that the food 

 supply is exhausted and they assume the army-worm habit. 

 The most striking instance of such an outbreak was in 1900 in 

 the northwestern United States and British Columbia. This 

 cutworm is a serious pest in greenhouses, where it gains entrance 

 through the use of rotted sod containing the caterpillars. It 

 has also the pernicious habit of climbing young trees and 

 vines to feed on the buds, foliage and fruit. 



The variegated cutworm has the widest range of food plants 

 of any of its class. It has been recorded as seriously injurious 

 to the following vegetable crops : cabbage, turnip, radish, beet, 

 carrot, lettuce, celery, rhubarb, asparagus, onion, squash, 

 cucumber, potato, tomato, sweet potato, bean and pea. Among 

 field crops it injures corn, wheat, various grasses, clover, hops, 

 sugar-cane and tobacco. Alfalfa is especially liable to attack 

 in the western United States. Apple, cherry, pear, plum, prune, 

 peach, currant, gooseberry, raspberry, blackberry, strawberry 

 and grape are often severely injured. Of greenhouse and orna- 

 mental plants, it is known to feed on violet, pansy, carnation, 

 smilax, rose, sweet pea, hollyhock, sunflower, nasturtium and 

 chrysanthemum. It has also been recorded as attacking 



