CUTWORMS AND ARMY-WORMS 291 



750 eggs. The egg is about to inch in diameter, spherical, 

 nearly smooth and very light yellow in color. The eggs hatch 

 in six to ten days. The young caterpillar is translucent whitish, 

 with a dark brown head and is about iV inch in length. In 

 the course of its development the larva passes through six 

 immature stages, molting five times. In the first two stages 

 the first two pairs of prolegs are not fully developed and the 

 young larvae consequently loop along like measuring-worms. 

 When disturbed they drop by means of a silken thread. In the 

 third stage they begin to acquire the characteristic stripes 

 of the mature caterpillar. From twenty to thirty days are 

 usually spent in the larval stage. When full-grown the cater- 

 pillars enter the ground, where at a short distance below the 

 surface they transform to mahogany brown pupse about f 

 inch in length. In about three weeks the moths emerge (Fig. 

 178). They have an ex- 

 panse of about If inches. 

 The front wings are brown 

 and are marked with two 

 more or less distinct 

 lighter spots near the 

 middle. In the reniform 

 spot there is a small, 

 distinct white dot. The 



hind wings are dull gray, Fig. 178. — The army-worm moth 



paler at the base. ^^^^""^^ 'i'^^- 



In New York there are usually three broods of caterpillars 

 annually; the first brood or over-wintered larvae in April and- 

 May, the second in July and the third in September, the last 

 not maturing until the following spring. There are thus only 

 two generations a year in this state. In the South there are as 

 many as five or six generations annually. In the North the 

 second brood is the most injurious but in the South either the 

 first, second or third may prove the most destructive. 



