118 JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY [Vol. 9 



able to give them. This is the more pecuhar because partly grown 

 caliginosellus larvae taken in the field are easily carried to maturity 

 on young corn either in boxes or in cages. There is apparently some 

 condition required by the larva in beginning to feed which we have 

 not yet supplied. Such a case was met with in attempting to rear 

 from the egg, larvse of one of the burrowing webworms, Anaphora 

 popeanella. The newly hatched larvce refused fresh food but by acci- 

 dent it was discovered that in a box which had been thrown aside, 

 the larvae were feeding on partly decayed leaves and thriving. A 

 little later in life they prefer fresh food and reject the other. 



In other respects Crambid larvse vary greatly. Some species, such 

 as Crambus nmtahilis, teterreUus, prcvfec^ellus and triseckis, continue 

 to feed and grow as long as the weather is favorable, and, except for 

 those larvse which are overtaken by the winter when only partly grown, 

 pupate as they reach their growth. They thus have several genera- 

 tions in a j^ear, the exact number varying with the latitude and altitude. 

 Others as Cramhus hortuellus, vulgivagellus, ruricolellus and probably 

 laqueatellus have one distinct generation each year and, instead of 

 pupating when full grown, the larvse construct their pupal cells and 

 then spend several months in meditation. 



There is enough variation in the habits of the species to make the 

 study of this group very interesting and a knowledge of the seasonal 

 history and habits of the particular species involved is also essential 

 whenever it becomes necessary to formulate methods of control. 

 We hope to develop keys based on larval characteristics so that the 

 identity of injurious forms can be determined without waiting for the 

 adults to emerge, which sometimes requires several months. We shall 

 be glad to determine collected or reared species of Crambidse for the 

 sake of the data on geographical and seasonal distribution accompany- 

 ing them. 



President Glenn W. Herrick: Is there any discussion of thia 

 interesting paper? 



Mr. E. p. Felt: I would hke to ask Mr. AinsHe if he has made 

 any serious attempt to control this grass web-worm? 



Mr. George G. Ainslie: I have done nothing in this direction. 



Mr. E. p. Felt: We have more or less trouble in New York. 

 I have been wondering if it might not be possible to destroy a good 

 many of these web-worms by arsenical applications. In my studies I 

 distinctly saw the young larva come up and cut off grass blades and 



