THE SEMITROPK'AL ARMY WORM. 



59 



at this time were frequently fouinl full of hole^, the work ol' these 

 larva'. The followin*!: day, July 4, the amaranth was almost com- 

 pletely denuded, illustratiuij^ the rapid work of this sj)eeies when in 

 large numbers (see figs. 10, 11). By July S the larvu" had almost 

 completed their work in the field, after having eaten everything 

 c-lean. ]Many were full grown and had connnenced to enter the 

 ground. July 9 the ]K)tato field was strijjped. the \'ines were dead 

 and dry, and the larva' had almost disaj)peare(l. The ground was 

 full of pupa\ none of them at a gi'eater depth than 4 inches, and in 



felii"^'.: 



'^.^!^^ 



Fio. 9. — Tho semitropical army worm (I'rofleiihi cridanid) ; Work of Inrva' on " can-loss 

 wood " in potato field ; 311 larva? wore on this plant when photosrapliod. (Original.) 



many cases only 2 inches. Upon digging into the hills, it was found 

 that the}^ did not average more than four good-sized potatoes to the 

 hill, and in many cases these had been rendered useless by the inroads 

 of the larva\ (This crop averaged small because of late planting.) 

 Many larva^ were found feeding on sweet potatoes at 'Sir. John M. 

 Cheney's place at this time, most of them still in young stages. A 

 few fully matured larva^ also were found, showing the overlapping 

 of the two generations; in fact, observations conducted both in the 



66— V 

 04752- 



-Itull.C.C. pt .")— 0!)- 



