46 
not be more destructive than others of the group of cut-worms to which 
they belong. As stated in the beginning, the prevailing system of 
underdrainage has at present a tendency to emphasize this gregarious 
habit by restricting the area of wet grounds. 
Whether this will continue to be the case, or whether, after a time, 
the effect will be to break up the habit of massing into large swarms, 
and diffuse them into smaller and less destructive colonies, remains yet 
to be seen. 
The heaviest damage has this season, here in Indiana, fallen upon 
the rye crop, a state of affairs which has excited much comment among 
farmers. The reasons for this seemingly general selection of this 
crop, for depredation by the worms, are (1) on account of its hardy na- 
ture, rye is often sown on these swampy or mucky lands, as it with- 
stands the weather there better than any other crop; and (2) by na- 
ture itis arank grower, and, therefore, a field in spring presents to the 
female moth all the requirements of a suitable locality to place her 
eggs, viz, where her progeny will have an abundant supply of succu- 
lent food, in a damp place and shaded from the direct rays of the sun. 
In all fields of rye examined which have been ravaged by the army- 
‘worm, the latter were found to have originated in the fields themselves 
and had not migrated to them. Cases were not uncommon, however, 
where the worms originated in grass lands and from thence invaded 
fields of wheat and oats. | 
The prospect of controlling the outbreaks of the army-worm in the 
future seems encouraging, provided the farmer is perfectly familiar 
with their habits. Much of the damage done might be prevented if 
decided measures were taken at the start. The trouble is that too 
often the farmer wastes the most precious time in waiting to see what 
the worms are going to do, and by the time he finds out they are beyond 
control. 
So far as I have been able to learn, where a neighborhood has turned 
out en masse, and taken decisive measures to destroy the worms, little 
injury has been done. These measures have consisted in ditching 
around the infested area and either flooding the ditch with water, or 
otherwise destroying what fell into it, and driving stock over the area 
inclosed by the ditches, whereby vast numbers of worms were crushed. 
From pup obtained in Fulton County the following parasites were 
reared: Ichneumon brevicinctor Say, Nemorea leucanie and Drymeia 
sp?. Ophion purgatus Say, also a parasite on Leucania, was this year 
reared from pupa of Scoliopteryx libatrix. 
THE FALL ARMY-WORM. 
(Laphygma frugiperda Ab. and Sm.) 
In 1885 and again 1889, we found larvee of this species feeding on the 
tassels and unfolding leaves of young volunteer corn, late in Septem- 
ber, in the vicinity of La Fayette, Ind. In both cases we reared adult 
ee ee 
Me wx 
