270 APPLIED ENTOMOLOGY 



black dots above. The full-grown larva webs a leaf or two together and pupates 

 in this place, remaining there a varying length of time before the adult emerges. 

 Fall flights northward of Cotton worm moths occur frequently and may 

 extend into the Northern States and Canada, where these insects are sometimes 

 found abundantly in September and October. 



Control. — Dry arsenate of lead dusted over the plants when these insects 

 first appear, using from 2 to 4 lb. per acre, according to the size of the plants, 



appears to be a satisfactory treatment. 

 It is usually applied while the dew is on 

 the plants. 



The Dagger Moths are leaf feeders on 

 various shrubs and trees in their larval 

 stages. The fore wings of the moths are 

 various shades of gray in most cases, and 

 the larvae are usually quite well covered by 

 rather uniformly distributed gray hairs. 

 Several species are known as Green Fruit 

 n l'""- i^'^-~')t\ "'°*'' °7; ^^' worms, the caterpillars being greenish, with- 



Cotton Worm {Alabama argiuacea ' . ^ ^ '^ ' 



Hbn.), about natural size. (Original.) out hairs, and feeding on the leaves and 



small fruit of apple and other trees during 

 the later spring months. They are not often seriously abundant. 



Some of the Noctuids are Stalk Borers, tunneling in the stems of cultivated 

 and other plants, among the plants affected in this way being corn, tomatoes, 

 potatoes, asters, dahhas, etc. The larva feeds during the summer months and 

 as a rule pupates in the lower part of its tunnel. Accordingly, all wilted plants 

 should be examined, and if a borer is present the plant should be destroyed 

 with the borer either as larva or pupa, within it. 



The Corn Ear Worm {Chloridea obsoleta Fab.). — This widely distrib- 

 uted pest is known by several common names, such as the Cotton boll- 

 worm, tomato fruitworm and false budworm of tobacco, in addition to 

 the one first given. In the South it attacks cotton bolls and tobacco seed 

 pods, as well as tomatoes and corn which are its usual food in the North. 

 It is present practically everywhere in the world between the parallels of 

 50° north and south latitude, and its original home is problematical. 



The adult insect (Fig. 278a) spreads about an inch and three-quarters 

 and is extremely variable in color, so that several varieties have been 

 recognized. It ranges from a pale reddish-brown to olive, with a greenish 

 tinge toward the outer margin of the fore wings, with darker bands and 

 spots, and the hind wings are lighter, with dark veins and a blackish 

 shade crossing from one outer angle to the other, leaving more or less of a 

 lighter color between this and the outer margin. 



The insect appears to pass the winter as a pupa in the ground, the 

 adult emerging in the spring, earlier in the South and later farther North. 

 The eggs, varying in number from less than 500 to nearly 3,000 are now 

 laid on different parts of the food plants and on weeds or even on the 

 ground. They hatch in a week or less, according to the temperature, and 



