276 APPLIED ENTOMOLOGY 



Stems of succulent plants at about the level of the ground and thereby 

 either partially or entireh^ cutting them off at this point. Several 

 hundred species have this habit and many kinds of garden and field 

 crops suffer in this manner during the spring and early summer months. 

 A few have the habit of climbing up the plants at night and feeding 

 there, some distance above the ground. 



The moths are usually of medium size, spreading from an inch to 

 about two inches, and are generally quiet colored, gray, brown or blackish, 

 more or less mottled, streaked or banded on the fore wings v>hile the 

 hinder pair are nearly white and unmarked except for darker margins in 

 some cases. Some species are more strongly marked, however, and have 

 brighter colors. 



]Most of these insects winter either as pupse or partly grown cater- 

 pillars. In the spring the latter pass the day in the ground, coming up 

 at night to feed. They are generally dull colored with rather faint spots 

 and lines and without a hairy covering, and when full-grown will average 

 an inch to an inch and a half in length. When feeding has been completed 

 they pupate a few inches deep in the ground. Some species have one 

 generation each year; others two. 



Control. — Late fall plowing to bring up and expose the insects to the 

 fluctuating temperatures of the cold season and its rains, is a useful 

 treatment, but other measures are also necessary. When Cutworm 

 work is seen the use of a poison bait is desirable. For this purpose one 

 good formula is: 



Labqb For Small 

 Quantity Gardens 



Bran 50 lb. or 1 pk. 



Paris green 2 lb. or ]4 lb. 



Cheap molasses 2 qt. or 1 pt. 



Oranges or lemons 3 fruits or 1 fruit 



Water 3 to 7 gal. or i to 6 qt. 



The second formula is for use where only a small quantity is desired. 



]SIix the bran and Paris green together thoroughly, dry: add the 

 juice of the fruit to some of the water and chop up the rest of the fruit 

 finely and add this and the molasses. Now combine this mixture with 

 the bran and Paris green and stir thoroughh", adding enough more 

 water to finally produce a rather stiff dough. This can be used in 

 gardens, placing about a teaspoonful close to the base of each plant liable 

 to attack, but should" be put on toward night so that it will not drj' up 

 in the sun and lose its attractiveness to the Cutworms. Fowls should 

 be shut up while this treatment is being used, to prevent their feeding 

 on the bait and l^eing poisoned. 



Where large fields are to be treated, a modification of this formula 

 is desirable, reducing the amount of water to a point where the mixture 

 is dry enough to spread broadcast, yet wet enough so that each flake of 



