TWENTY-NINTH ANNUAL MEETING. 51 
dots. Back of center of each wing is the characteristic white spot. The hind 
wings are translucent gray. 
The eggs are deposited upon dead grass and old stubble between stalk and 
base of leaves. Some adults emerge late in the fall; the majority, however, ap- 
pear early in the spring. When newly hatched the larva is dull white in color. 
When full grown its general color is dingy black with five light longitudinal 
stripes. The common name comes from great multitudes moving in one direc- 
tion. The traveling habit is not instinctive, but forced by scarcity of food 
brought about by presence of large numbers. 
Among the remedies for checking this pest are burning old grass, stubble, 
and old trash liable to form receptacles for eggs and hibernating larve. Doubt- 
less the custom of burning all grass lands in this state in the years of early settle- 
ment accounts for the comparative absence of this worm. Ditching and fencing 
will prevent the progress of worms from one field to another until they may be 
destroyed by crushing. While this enemy of agriculture is legion, it is pleasing 
to note that its natural enemies are many. So effective are these predacious and 
parasitic insects * that the larve often disappear before they have become ready 
to pupate. 
WHEATHEAD ARMy-worM (Leucania albilinea, Guenée). 
Numerous reports of the ravages of this insect came from various localities in 
the northern and western parts of the state during May and June. Hodge Bros. 
wrote from Abilene ‘‘ The ground is covered and they are doing great damage.” 
John E. Frost, land commissioner of the Santa Fe railway, estimated the damage 
over central and western Kansas to the wheat to be from 1 to 25 per cent. of the 
crop. The other reports were alike in tone. 
The adult insect is a moth expanding about 114 inches, front wings pale straw,. 
hind wings satiny white. The larva, a brown and pale yellow caterpillar, feeding 
at night, eats the kernels out of the head of wheat, leaving a head of chaff. The 
casual observer will first see an abundance of chaff around tle foot of the plants. 
It appears about (Riley) the time wheat is in the milk. Its first recorded appear- 
ance in this state was in 1876. 
Prof. J. B. Smith, in Jnsect Life, Vol. v1, pp. 189, 190, says: ‘‘This is one of 
those creatures against which we are more or less helpless; and the only advice 
that I was able to give to the farmers was to harvest their wheat just as soon as 
they possibly could. The advice was followed very generally, and a conservative 
estimate placed on the damage done was 10 per cent. of the crop. A very large 
proportion of these larve were parasitized, principally by a tachinid fly, but the 
fact that so large a proportion was parasitized did not, so far as I have been able 
to ascertain, lessen the injuries sustained by the farmers in the least.’’ 
* Insects attacking army-worms: 
PrepDAcious BEETLEsS....Cicindela 6-guttata, Fabr. 
Harpalus caliginosus, Fabr. 
Calosoma calidum, Fabr. 
Calosoma externum, Say. 
Calosoma scrutator, Fabr. 
Calosoma wilcoxi; Lec. 
Pasimachus elongatus, Lec. 
Cicindela repanda, Dej. 
Elaphrus rusearius, Say. 
Amara angustata, Say. 
Harpalus pennsylvanicus, Dej. 
OETRIS a2 eae eeuce cous ose re Yellow-tailed tachinid fly, Exorista lucaniw, Kirk. 
’ Exorista flavicauda, Riley. 
HYMENOPTERA............ Microgaster militaris, Walsh. 
Penzomachus minimus, Walsh. 
Opbion purgatus, Say. 
Ichneumon leucania. 
