CUTWORMS AND ARMY-WORMS 293 



grayish brown with the orbicular spot obHqiie; in one form 

 all markings are indistinct; in the other there is near the tip 

 of the wing a bluish white spot and the orbicular spot is crossed 

 by a diagonal white bar ; the cross lines are also more distinct. 

 The hind wings are pearly white margined with brownish 

 (Fig. 179). The moth deposits its eggs in clusters of fifty to 

 one hundred or more on the leaves of its food plants. They 

 are arranged in two layers, one above the other, and covered 

 with fine gray down from the moth's body. The egg is nearly 

 spherical, white to pinkish, about -io inch in diameter and 

 marked with about sixty 

 vertical ribs, crossed with 

 smaller ones. The eggs 

 hatch in ten days or less 

 and the caterpillars reach 

 maturity in about a month. 

 The full-grown caterpillar 

 is li inches in length, 



varying in color from Fig. 179. — The fall ^army-worm moth 



pale yellowish brown to 



blackish and is marked with three narrow pale yellow stripes 

 on the back and a broader yellowish line on each side. The 

 larvai transform to dark brown pupae, about i inch in length, 

 in earthen cells slightly below the surface of the ground. The 

 pupal cells are placed vertically and the pupae lie with their 

 heads directed upward.. The cells in which hibernation takes 

 place are heavily lined with silk. 



Recent observations have shown that in southern Nebraska 

 there are three generations a year. The spring brood of moths 

 appears in May and June. The caterpillars of this brood 

 occur in July and give rise to a second brood of moths in late 

 July and early August. The caterpillars of the second brood 

 mature in August and early September. The third brood of 

 moths appears in September and eggs are deposited within a 



