294 MANUAL OF VEGETABLE-GARDEN INSECTS 



short time. The last or fall brood of caterpillars . does the 

 greatest damage during September and October. In the South 

 another generation probably occurs but definite information 

 in regard to this point is not available. 



References 



U. S. Div. Ent. Bull. 29, pp. 13-45. 1901. Bibliography. 

 Neb. State Ent. Bull. 1, pp. 48-57. 1913. 



The Beet Army- Worm 



Caradrina exigua Hiibner, C. flavimaciilata Harvey 



This cosmopolitan army-worm is represented in North 

 America by a variety {C. flavimacidata) which, by some author- 

 ities, is considered as a distinct species. In North America 

 it is found only in the western United States and Mexico. Its 

 favorite food plant is the sugar-beet but it also feeds on corn, 

 alfalfa, potato, pea, onion, cotton and many weeds. In Egypt 

 and the Sudan it is very destructive to cotton and lucerne, 

 while in India it does serious injury to the indigo plant. 



The hibernation habits are not known with certainty. In 

 Colorado it would appear from the late emergence of the moths 

 in the fall that the winter is passed in the adult state. In 

 California the first brood moths appear in April; in Colorado 

 in May. The moth has an expanse of about an inch. The 

 front wings are grayish brown ; the small, round, orbicular 

 and reniform spots are pale. The hind wings are opalescent 

 white with the veins and margin brown (Fig. 180). The eggs 

 are deposited in masses of twelve to fifty on the underside of 

 the leaves and covered with grayish down. The egg is pyram- 

 idal in shape, the upper third in the form of a cap and sep- 

 arated from the remainder by a white band. The eggs hatch 

 in about four days. The young larvae live in small colonies 

 and skeletonize the leaves under the protection of a web spun 



