272 APPLIED ENTOMOLOGY 



Control. — Late fall plowing to break up the earthen cells in the ground 

 where the insects winter as pupae, provided the plowing is rather deep, 

 is a helpful procedure. As the larvae feed for a short time on the surface 

 of the plants before boring into them, the application of arsenate of lead 

 at or just before this time, is advantageous. With the increasing num- 

 bers in the later generations of the insect, fertilization, culture and any 

 methods possible for hastening the maturity of the crop are desirable. 

 Green corn is the preferred food plant of this insect and rows of corn 

 planted in and near cotton fields, if in tassel and silk about the first of 

 August will attract most of the moths, leaving the cotton much more free 

 than otherwise. On corn itself, dusting powdered arsenate of lead onto 

 the silks, as soon as these appear, seems to reduce the damage to quite an 

 extent if applied at 3 or 4-day intervals while the silk is developing. 



In the Noctuidse are a number of species where some of the abdominal 

 feet of the caterpillars are not functional or are absent, as a result of 

 which these larvae travel like those of the Geometers or "inch worms" 

 already described. Several of these species are occasionally injurious to 

 cultivated plants. In most cases at least, such larvae can be controlled 

 by the application of arsenate of lead. 



The Army Worms also are members of the Noctuidse, this name being 

 given to the insects because of their habit of marching from place to place 

 all together, like armies. They are periodically injurious insects, appear- 

 ing in great abundance at times, but 

 rarely troublesome for more than one 

 season at a time in the same place. 



The Army Worm {Cirphis uni- 

 puncta Haw.). — This pest is probably 

 a native of North America. It occurs 

 over the entire eastern United States 

 as far west as Kansas and Nebraska, 

 Fig. 279. — Adult Moth of the Army and has been reported from the 



Worm {Cirphis unipuncta Haw.), slightly o ii, ^ a*, i- j r~i i-f 



reduced. {Original.) Southwestern states and California. 



The adult moth (Fig. 279) spreads 

 about an inch and a half, and is quite uniformly brownish-gray with a 

 tiny white spot near the middle of each front wing and a rather dusky 

 outer margin on the hind wings. The moths fly at night and are often 

 attracted to lights. 



In what stage this insect passes the winter does not appear to have 

 been conclusively proved, but it is probably as the partly grown cater- 

 pillar hiding in rank, dense weedy growth. In late spring, at least, 

 the nearly full-grown larvae have been found feeding on grasses primarily 

 and then on small grain. The larvae mature quite rapidly, pupate in the 

 ground and produce the moths in June, at least in the North. Eggs 

 are now laid on grass and similar plants and hatch in 8 or 10 days 



