28 
A considerable outbreak of the fall army warm occurred during 
1884, as evidenced by Divisional as well as by published records. 
During May of that year we received caterpillars from Prof. A. J. 
Cook, Lansing, Mich., with report that they were doing fearful dam- 
age in parts of that State, ‘‘eating everything,” and being often so 
thick that when walking over a meadow from a dozen to a hundred 
would be killed at each step. Subsequently we received another lot 
of material from the same source of what proved to be the black cut- 
worm or erratic army worm (Noctua fennica Tausch.), which was 
evidently the principal species causing the injury referred to. August 
9 we obtained moths of this species from eggs collected in the District 
of Columbia on the leaves of hickory. August 15 we received larvee 
from Judge Lawrence C. Johnson, Holly Springs, Miss., with the 
statement that they injured the stalks of corn in that vicinity. August 
19 larvee were received from Mr. R. W. Jones, Oxford, Miss., who 
wrote that they were devouring all the grass in that vicinity. Sep- 
tember 17 we received material from Mr. F. M. Webster, Oxford, 
Ind., the insect being reported injurious to young wheat. October 11 
we received from Mr. E. W. Allis, Adrian, Mich., specimens with the 
report that the insects were doing considerable damage to early sown 
wheat. October 16 caterpillars were received from Mr. Eli C. Fisk, 
Havana, Ill., who stated that they were doing immense damage to 
young whe: i hundreds of acres having been destroyed at that time. 
October 10, 1885, Mr. Warren Knaus, Salina, Kans., wrote that 
these larvee were eating up the rye and doing apparent damage to 
wheat in that vicinity. November 20 of the same year we received 
from Mr. F. M. Webster specimens of this insect in all stages, bred 
from volunteer corn at Lafayette, Ind. 
November 21, 1888, we received specimens of the eggs on a section 
of lemon leaf from Mr. C. J. K. Jones, Louisville, Ky., and Novem- 
ber 18 of the next year we received from Mr. F. M. Webster speci- 
mens with the statement that they were feeding on corn. Both of 
Mr. Webster’s notes are recorded in Bulletin 22 (0. s., p, 46). 
October 11,1893, Prof. R. H. Price, College Station, Tex., sent larvee 
with the report that they were crawling over the ground by the mil- 
lion and eating ‘*‘ nearly everything.’ 
No further reports of injury were received until 1897, when Mr, 
Cyrus W. Butler, St. Petersburg, Fla., sent larvee early in July, where 
they were eating the leaves of sandspur grass and crawling about rap- 
idly, as is their wont, in search of other food. It was observed that 
they did not touch Wee weed growing among the grasses. August 
9 we received from Miss Louise Morris, Athens, Ga., larvee with 
report that they were destroying violets and that thousands were 
observed in the surrounding grass. August 27 Mr. Charles H. Will- 
son, Longridge, Berkeley County, S. C., wrote concerning -this 
