THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 53 



lar masses, and are so completely covered with loose white silk that 

 as a whole they look like little pieces of fine wool attached to the 

 back of the Army-worms. They were very numerous last year in 

 this State, and were sent to me by several correspondents, under the 

 supposition that they were the eggs of the Army-worm. Nothing 

 could be more unsafe and erroneous than such a conclusion ; for in- 

 stead of giving birth to new generations of the Army-worm they pro- 

 duce the little flies which are its most deadly foes. All the numer- 

 [Fig. 24.] ous specimens which I bred accord exactly with the 

 above named species. This parasite is also in its turn 

 infested by two parasites ( Glyphe viridascens (Fig. 24) 

 and Ilovkenaperpidcra, Walsh), but while over 90 per 

 cent, of Army-worms are killed by primary parasites, 

 only about 18 per cent, of these primary parasites are 

 destroyed by the secondary parasites. 



The Purged Ophion — Ophion purgatus, Say*. — Body pale honey-yellow, somewhat sericeous ; 

 [Fig. 25.] antenna; rather longer than the body ; orbits yellow, dilated be- 



fore, so as to occupy the greater part of the hypostoma; ocelli 

 large, prominent; wings hyaline ; stigma slender; first cubital 

 cellule with two opaque, subtriangular spots ; no areolet ; meta- 

 thorax with a single, raised, rectilinear, transverse line, near the 

 base. Length, seven-tenths of an inch. 



This large Ichneumon Fly (Fig. 25) has 

 been bred from the Army-worm. The ovipos- 

 itor is very short, and instead of piercing the 

 skin of her victim as do all the other Ichneu- 

 mons that have been described, the female 

 Ophion simply attaches her egg, which is bean- 

 shaped, by a pedicle to the skin. The footless grub which hatches 

 from this egg does not entirely leave the egg-case, but the last joints 

 of its body remain attached to the shell, while it reaches over, and 

 with its sharp jaws gnaws into the side of the worm f Packard). This 

 Ophion has been taken in Maine, New York, Massachusetts, Indiana, 

 Illinois, Missouri and Carolina and doubtless occurs all over the Uni- 

 ted States. 



The Army-worm Ichneumon Fly — Ichneumon lucanice, Fitch. — 

 Dr. Fitch* has briefly described another true Ichneumon Fly 

 under the above name, which he bred from the Army-worm. 



Thus we have seven distinct and true parasites which attack this 

 worm, and besides these, two others, undescribed, are figured in Har- 

 ris's Injurious Insects (last edition p. 630), swelling the number to 

 nine. Can we longer wonder that this dreaded foe to the farmer, 

 never molests his crops for two successive years? 



habits of the army- worm, and suggestions for its destruction. 



' Since the great bulk of the eggs of the Army-worm are depos- 

 ited in the summer and fall months in grass swamps and grass mead- 



* Ophion purgatus, Say.=0. lateralis, Brulle- 

 «N. Y. Reports, Vol. Ill, p. 12C. 



