INSECTS ATTACKING CORN. 



27 



CORN "WpRM. 



{Heliothis armigera Hubner; Order, Lepidoptera.) 



Diagnosis. — Greenish-brown, dark-striped caterpillar, an inch 

 to an inch and a half long, feeding on the kernels of ripening 

 sweet or field corn. Unsightly irregular channels are gnawed 

 along the cob. 



Attacking, also, the tomato. 



Description and Life-history. — The adult is greenish-yellow, 

 (front wings pale clay yellow, with a greenish tint, hind wings 

 paler,) the forewings bearing each a conspicuous dark spot near 



Fig. 15. Corn Worm; a, b, adult; c, larva; fj, pupa, In cocoon. 



the middle. The eggs are laid upon the silk of the young ears. 

 "The larvse soon hatch, and eat through the husk to the succulent 

 kernels beneath, which they devour greedily for several weeks," 

 The full-grown caterpillar is about 1 h inches long, and varies in 

 color from pale green to dark brown, with darker longitudinal 

 stripes. On each segment of the body there are eight circular, 

 shining, black spots, from which arise short, brown hairs. The 

 full-grown larvse descend to the ground, burrow a few inches into 

 the soil, and there form loose, oval cocoons of silk and dirt, within 

 which they pupate. The adult moths issue in from two to four 



