4 FARMERS BULLETIN 819. 



The pupa, or quiescent stage (fig. 1, e), which is spent in the 

 ground, measures about three-fourths of an inch in length and is 

 brown — abnost the color of mahogany. 



The adult, or parent (fig. 1, a), of the budworm is easily distin- 

 guished from other insects found in tobacco fields. It is a greenish 

 moth with a wing spread of about 1| inches. The forewings are of 

 a beautiful greenish color, obliquely crossed with three lighter lines, 

 and the hind wings are whitish, bordered with a brownish fringe. 



NATURE AND EXTENT OF INJURY. 



Injury to the plants, which is entirely the work of the larvte, or 

 worms (fig. 1, h, c), takes place as soon as the tiny larva?, hatching 

 from eggs laid on the leaves, reach the bud, although usually it is 

 several days before planters become aware of the damage. The 

 leaves of the bud have then developed somewhat, and examination 



reveals the presence of the 

 small holes, which have in- 

 creased in size. AVhen these 

 holes are made in the tips of 

 the leaves in the developing 

 bud, misshapen leaves often re- 

 sult; when the attack is made 

 elsewhere, large unsightly holes 

 develop as the leaf tissue ex- 

 pands. In both cases the leaves 

 are unfit for cigar wrapper and 

 must be placed in the lower 

 grades, often at a loss of as 

 much as $1 a pound. In growing tobacco for cigar purposes it is 

 necessary to produce entire leaves. So complete would be the loss in 

 Georgia and Florida if no control measures were practiced against 

 the budworm that the industry would have to be abandoned. Be- 

 fore the present investigation was begun the l)udworm was controlled 

 entirely by use of the Paris green and meal mixture. In spite of the 

 use of this insecticide as the means of control, the average loss per 

 acre in shade-grown tobacco was estimated at $37.50. This was due 

 in part to burning by the poison and in part to incomplete control 

 of the insect. 



-The tobacco bud\voi-m (Chlorhhu circs- 

 cchh) : a. Adult, or moth ; h, c, full grown 

 larva, from side and from above ; <I, seed pod 

 bored into by larva ; c, pupa. Natural size. 

 (Howard.) 



HISTORY AND DISTRIBUTION IN THE UNITED STATES. 



The tobacco budworm is a very serious pest in the tobacco-growing 

 sections of Florida, (ieorgia, Alabama, and Louisiana. Although 

 common in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia, it is much 

 less injurious there than in the more southern part of its range. It is 



