THE ERRATIC ARMY- WORM. 21 



discovered and defoliated bv the hungry worms. After the 

 wild plants had been denuded the worms made for the gard- 

 ens and cultivated fields; in the former they destroyed all 

 plants, preferring onions, which seemed to be particularly 

 to their taste; in the latter all the small grains, just appear- 

 ing above the ground, were eaten and even in large fields not 

 a vestige of such plants could be found. Naturalh^the farm- 

 ers, chiefly newcomers, were greatly alarmed about this in- 

 vasion and many feared a repetition of the trouble. There 

 is, however, no reason whatever to be alarmed, as the same 

 conditions that assisted so much to multiply the worms may 

 not occur again in many years. Nor was the actual dam- 

 age done very great, as all the wild plants soon recovered 

 and in time made a denser growth. The cereals, which had 

 been cut down to the very ground, assisted by themoist and 

 warm days following this invasion, not only recuperated 

 but were in some cases even improved, as theystooled better 

 than those not cut by ^vorms. 



An investigation of these caterijillars showed that most 

 of them were healthy and but few parasites could be found. 

 This shows very clearly that this insect had increased very 

 recently and very suddenly to such alarming numbers. The 

 only parasite found was a small wasp, the Meteorus vulga- 

 ris Cr., and even this insect was by no means very common.'^ 

 Soon after the visit of the entomologist, in fact within twcji- 

 ty-four hours, all the worms had entered the ground in the 

 usual way, had made for themselves cells inside of which 

 they transformed to light-brown pupge. The adult, which is 

 rather a pretty insect and very different from the common 

 army-worm, issued about ten days later. The illus- 

 trations on plate III show the different stages of the in- 

 sect. Although large numbers of the moths \vere kept in 

 captivit}' and fed with sweetened water, none deposited eggs. 

 In fact they were exceedingly wild, and though chiefly ac- 

 tive at night, were also wide-awake during the day. 



Judging from experience in the past this moth is not 

 liable to be numerous in consecutive years. Only once 

 before has it occured in such numbers as to deserve 



* A tachina-fly, and two other parasitic flies were also bred from these cater- 

 pillars, viz. Anthrax, alternata Say and Psilocephala Iiaemorrhoidalis Macq. 



