REPORT OF THE ENTOMOLOGIST AND BOTANIST. 



231 



It is, of course, possible that the insect may have been introduced in this way and 

 although recorded only from the above mentioned widely separated localities, from the 

 inconspicuous nature of the injury, it is extremely likely that it has been overlooked in 

 many places where it occurs, it has not yet been fuund feeding in any other member 

 of the grass family than wheat and rye. With regard to its occurrence at Ithaca, N. Y., 

 Mr. Slingerland writes under date 28th December, 1896 : — " Cephus py(/mceus has not 

 attracted noticeable attention iiere in our locality, nor in our State, as far as I know, 

 since Prof. Comstock discussed it in Bulletin 11. I do not know that it occurs in any 

 other State, although it is suspected that it occurs in Ohio and West Virginia." 



Remedies. — As nearly all the larvae pass the winter in the base of the straw, it is 

 quite evident that the most practical remedy will be found in treating the stubble, so as 

 to destroy them or the pupaj befoi'e the flies emerge; This may be done either by 

 ploughing deeply after harvest, or by burning over, which for another reason also will 

 certainly be a most useful prac-ice in Manitoba, for in that province, on account of the 

 usual plan of growing wheat for several successive seasons on the same land, s^ome bad 

 weeds have increased enormously. The burning over of stubbles in autumn will cer- 

 tainly destroy vast numbers of these antl their seeds, as well as at the same time the 

 larvas of the Wheat-stem Saw-fly. In Manitoba a great deal more straw is produced 

 every year by farmers than they can possibly feed or use otherwise, and as a consequence, 

 as soon as the farmer knows how mu -h he will require, the residue, a large amount, is 

 burnt every spring, simply to get it out of the way. Should the Wheat stem Saw-fly 

 ever increase sufficiently to affect the yield appieciably, the burning in autumn of the 

 straw not needed would undoubtedly be a wise practice, as it is known that a few of the 

 cocoons, at any rate, are formed in the straw. 



THE ARMY-WORM. 



(^Leucania unipuncta, Haw.^ 



Attack. — Brown, or sometimes blackish, striped caterpillars (Fig, 

 3), eating the leaves and stripping the stems of grasses and many 

 other low plants. When attacking cereals, frequently cutting oft" the 

 heads. When full-grown, over an inch and a half in length, and 

 when occurring in large numbers, migrating in bodies from one food 

 patch to another. On reaching full growth, the caterpillars burrow 

 into the grounri and turn to light brown chrysalids, from which in 

 about two or three weeks the moths emerge. 



These (Fig. 4) are of a warm^ 

 satiny brown colour sprinkled with 

 minute black specks, and with a 

 small but distinct white spot in the 

 middle of each upper wing. They 

 are very active. When the wingS| 

 are closed, the moth measures about 

 an inch in length. 

 The life history of the Army- worm in Canada is 



as follows : There are two broods in the year. Eggs ar^ 



laid in autumn and hatch in ten or twelve days. After 



feeding for a short time, the small caterpillars, like 



many of the cutworms, become torpid and pass the ., , 



winter beneath tufts of grass and other low herbage, t,. , pi,^„.,„i:c .^„fi, o«^ .>,r,r.^ 

 - . • * ^1 1 ^ j^, • *., JP^ig- 4.— Chrysalis, moth and eggs of 



In the loliowmg spring they complete their growth, the Army-worm. 



feeding on the young grass and grain crops, and produce the moths in June. These lay 

 eggs for the second brood, which is usually much the more numerous and destructive. 

 By the latter part of July, in this part of Canada, the young caterpillars are large 

 enough, when abundant, to attract attention by their depredations. They are full- 

 grown by about the first week in August, when, burrowing an inch or two into the 



Fig. 3— The Army- 

 worm. 



