97 
In habit these three bugs resemble the Chinch Bug to a considerable 
degree, only that they are earlier in their egg-laying, and that their 
food-plants are weeds and other herbaceous plants, rather than grasses. 
They also move about on the wing in a similar manner to that of the 
Micropus leucopterus. Last spring, on one day in particular, the air was 
full of these and other small hemipterous insects. At just what date 
this flight occurred I do not remember now, but know it was during the 
month of May. 
The three species referred to above in connection with the injuries 
recorded, all oceur upon ground that has been neglected and allowed 
to.grow up to purslane and Amaranthus. The two latter named are 
also occasionally found about smart-weed (Polygonum) during late 
summer and fall, while the first mentioned is also inclined to be par- 
tial to “stink” grass at times. 
CUT-WORMS. 
Scarcely a year passes without a report of damages from cut-worms 
in various parts of the country. Here in Nebraska quite a large num- 
ber of the night-flying moths belonging to the genera Agrotis, Hadena, 
Mamestra, ete., are often the cause of much worry and not infrequently 
the loss of much time and money to the farmer and gardener. 
At about the same time that the bugs mentioned above were the most 
plentiful and doing their injury to trees, vines, etc., the reports of cut- 
worm depredations began coming in to the station from various districts 
within and without the city limits. These reports included injuries to 
both garden and field crops, and from the fact that they were received 
from widely separated localities, the pest was quite general over the 
eastern part of the State. Specimens of at least a half dozen distinct 
species of the worms were received by me, along with the statement 
that they were the authors of the injury. Among these I recognized 
Agrotis annexa, A. suffusa, A. messoria, A. saucia, and A. clandestina. 
So abundant were several species of these worms that they literally 
cultivated the ground at places where they burrowed during day: 
time. Nor did the worms content themselves with feeding upon culti- 
vated plants alone, but also, in many instances, kept down the weeds. 
Here in the city of Lincoln, upon a vacant square that had been used 
by the boysas a base-ball ground, and where the ordinary “ pepper-grass” 
was growing in profusion, the Agrotis anneva finally succeeded in clear- 
ing the ground of this weed. So voracious did the worms become be- 
fore maturity that the pepper-grass was even cut off and the stems 
drawn into their retreats in the ground, where they might be devoured 
during day-time. On cloudy days the worms even ventured forth 
to feed openly by daylight, scurrying back into their holes when the sun 
came out fora moment. In the hard trampled ground their holes were 
smooth-cut and presented a very interesting sight indeed when the occu- 
pants issued forth and quickly returned upon the least disturbance, like 
23479—No, 22 7 
