290 MANUAL OF VEGETABLE-GARDEN INSECTS 



and eacli side bears several distinct stripes. Along each side 

 of the body extend three stripes of about the same width ; the 

 one just below the spiracles is of a light greenish yellow with 

 whitish edges ; the one bordering on the dorsum is a little darker 

 with a mottled greenish black center and narrow white lines 



along its edges ; the 

 central stripe, or the 

 one with the spir- 

 acles in its lower 

 edge, is black, some- 

 times lighter along 

 its center. The 

 dorsum is finely 

 mottled with green- 

 ish black and closely 

 resembles the dark 

 stigmata] stripe in 

 color ; along the 

 middle line of the 

 dorsum there ex- 

 quite indistinct except 

 The six true legs 



177. — Army-worms, showing variation in color 

 (slightly enlarged). 



tends a narrow white stripe, usually 

 on the thoracic and anal segments, 

 are light brown in color, and each proleg is marked with 

 a large, shiny, blackish spot. The head is of a greenish 

 brown color, rather coarsely mottled with black which merges 

 into distinct blackish stripes along the sutures. There is con- 

 siderable variation in general color among the caterpillars, 

 some being much lighter than others, due to differences in the 

 intensity of the stripes and the mottlings on the body. 



The moths deposit their eggs in the sheath or unfolded base 

 of the leaves of grains and grasses. The eggs are laid in rows 

 of ten to sixty and covered with a white, gelatinous substance 

 which fastens them together and folds the edge of the leaf 

 closelv around them. Each female moth lavs from 500 to 



