REPORT OF THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 57 i^ 



never been numerous, and that it was the white ones with brown Ik^cIs ("about half 

 way brtwcen a worm and a grub," as they expressed it) wliich did the iiijmy. In 

 fact, an aged and i]itellip:ent gentleman. Mr. Vnincd;:;e Russell, as soon as he learned 

 of our arrival, went to the Thomi)Son lieid and brought us therefrom a number of 

 Hndenu larvae, remarking that the striped worms had occurred with them, but only 

 in very limited numbers, and that those brought were the depredators. 



From ^\•hat we were able to learn, the effect of these worms was noticed for the 

 first about the middle of May, and the}' continued to carry on their work for about 

 three weeks, after which they appeared to do no ifijury, and the dried remains of 

 the young grass seemed to attest to the statement, as in no case were any withered 

 or dead clumps observed. The destruction appeared to lie solely in the amputation 

 of thi' small roots, neither the bulb nor the blade having been ravaged, and we were 

 informed that the worms were in no case observed feeding above ground, but invari- 

 ably belo\\' the surface. 



Although no such outbreak of these larvae in meadows had been previously re- 

 corded, this habit of feeding below ground, and upon the roots of gi'asses was 

 noticed long ago by Dr. Riley, who fomidthat the larvaj would bury themselves in 

 the earth, and feed in tliis manner from grass roots, although other food was pro- 

 vided them.* 



That the Hadena larvae, in both the Thompson and Kreet fields, originated in 

 each case in excessive numbers throughout only a very limited area, and that they 

 gradually extended their domains as the food-supply became exhausted, was very 

 e^^dcnt. In the Kreet field, which was very low, flat, and damp, the depredations 

 began in the southwest corner, the worms gradually working eastward parallel 

 with the highway, wliich was carefully avoided, and a margm of gi'ass six to ten 

 yards wide was left almost untouched, while they pushed fartlier and farther to the 

 northward for a considerable distance, destroying every vestige of timothy, gradu- 

 ally seeming to exhaust themselves near the northern and eastern boundaries of 

 the field. 



In the Thompson field they originated in the northwestern portion, along a low, 

 wide ravuie, traveling eastward, following a narrow ravine near the northern 

 boundaiy, a tributary of the former, nearly across the field, while elsewhere along 

 the line of origin they did not extend then- depredations more than about one-third 

 as far, as that direction brought them upon the higher ground. 



We were informed that while a few worms had been observed working ujDon the 

 higher grounds in this field little damage had been done there, but as the tributary 

 ravine reached high ground there had been a tendency to spread out at right angles, 

 those on the south side being, as it were, thrown across the path of those worms 

 pi'oceeding east from the place of origin. ' As in the Kreet field, the boundary be- 

 tween the totally desti'oyed portion and the uninjured was irregTilar and poorly 

 defined, a gradual fading of one into the other. 



In this field larvae and pupas were found m considerable abundance, although 

 many of the former did not appear in a healthy condition, and many of the latter 

 had a blackened look, and some others had evidently been destroyed by some natm-al 

 enemy. But m the Kreet field the case seemed different, for here it reqiined con- 

 siderable labor to obtain either larvoe or pupae, even in limited numbers, and many 

 of these were affected as in the Thompson field. I^ead larvas were found in the 

 earth, sti-etched at nearly full length, rigid, and with a parasitic fungus, a species 

 of Isaria, growing from between the thoracic segments, but more frequently from 

 the neck, after the manner of Torrnbia from the white grub, only that in this case 

 they affect the u]jper as \\-ell as the under part. This was also observed to attack 

 the larvje of Nephelodcs violans. 



On July 17 a goodly number of larvee and pupae were secured from both fields 

 and placed in earth in tin boxes. Returning home on the 19th, these boxes were at 

 once opened, and found to be literally swarming with a species of Pferomalus. Tlie 

 larvajand pupfe were placed in separate cages, the Pteromalus continuing to appear 

 in that containing pupae for several days afterward. later there a]>peai-ed from 

 these pui>a3 a single mdividual of Ichneumon jucundus, a species of Tacliina, and 

 also a species of Phora. Tins last, however, was doubtless a scavenger and not a 

 parasite. 



The fii-st moth appeared from the pupas on the 32d, and the th-st a]3peared from 

 the larva? on August 11. All moths obtained were Hadena devastatrioc, but not 

 over 10 per cent, of the adolescent individuals deA'eloped to adults. 



Had the appearance of the Glassy Cut-Avorms been more general, in such num- 

 bers as in the vicinity of Richmond, the loss would have been very serious; as it 



*Fu-st Report Insects of Missouri, p. 83, 1868. Report Commissioner of Agri- 

 cultm-e, 1884, p. 297. 



