THE FALL ARMY WORM, OR ‘‘GRASS WORM.’’ — 9 
totally different in hue. The front wings (fig. 1) are dark gray in 
ground color and have a mottled appearance, and there is usually 
an irregular white or light-gray spot near their extreme tip. The 
front wings of the female (fig. 1, 6) are usually much duller in color 
than those of the male. The hind wings of both sexes are white, but 
possess a pearly or pinkish luster; they are edged with a smoky 
brown line. The body of the moth is ash gray. 
In the Gulf States there may be as many as six generations of 
moths in a given locality in one year, but five is probably the more 
usual number. In those regions where the winter temperatures de- 
scend much below the freezing point there is seldom or never more 
than one generation of the fall army worm in a given locality in any 
one year, as the moths resulting from an outbreak of the caterpillars 
almost invariably fly northward, sometimes for hundreds of miles, 
before laying their eggs. Thus, as the insects can not survive the 
winter in the North, this is the sole means of infestation for the North- 
ern States, and if it were possible thoroughly to control the fall 
army worm in the Gulf States during the early spring, farmers in 
the North would probably never suffer from its ravages. As yet, 
however, no effective means of doing this has been discovered. 
HISTORY OF THE FALL ARMY WORM IN THE UNITED STATES. 
The fall army worm has been known as an injurious insect in 
Georgia since the year 1797 and perhaps earlier than this. It is 
recorded as having been particularly injurious in Florida in 1845, 
and it was at this time that the ditching method of destroying the 
“marching ” worms, now in universal use, was first put into practice. 
In 1870 the insect was injurious in Missouri and Illinois and from 
then until 1899 more or less extensive damage by it occurred every 
few years. During the latter year an extensive outbreak of the pest 
occurred throughout South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, West 
Virginia, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas and other western and 
northern States. The most severe general outbreak of this insect 
ever recorded occurred during the summer of 1912, when it swept 
almost the entire United States east of the Rocky Mountains, utterly 
destroying the corn and millet in parts of many southern States, 
severely injuring cotton and truck crops, and destroying the grass on 
lawns in cities as if by magic. 
NATURAL ENEMIES. 
INSECT ENEMIES. 
Fortunately the fall army worm has several very efficient insect 
enemies which ordinarily succeed in keeping its numbers down, thus 
preventing serious outbreaks of the pest, except during years when 
exceptionally favorable conditions for the worm prevail. 
