THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 55 



they are perhaps led to perform this wanton trick, by the succnlency 

 of the stem immediately below the ear. South of latitude 40° they 

 generally appear before the wheat stalks get too hard, or early enough 

 to materially injure it; but north of that line, wheat is generally too 

 much ripened for their tastes, and is sometimes even harvested before 

 the full grown worms make their advent. 



I have heard of the Army- worm, sometimes passing through a 

 wheat field when the wheat was nearly ripe, and doing good service 

 by devouring all the chess and leaving untouched the wheat ; but the 

 following item from Collinsville, Illinois, which appeared in the Mis- 

 souri Democrat, contains still more startling facts, and would indi- 

 cate that even a foe to the farmer as determined as this, may some- 

 times prove to be his friend. 



" Harvest and Crops. — Notwithstanding the unfavorable weather, 

 man; farmers have commenced the wheat harvest. The yield in this 

 immediate vicinity will be superabundant. Some fields were struck 

 with rust, a few days since, but the Amry-worm making its appearance 

 simultaneously, stripped the straw entirely bare of blades and saved 

 the berry from injury. These disgusting pests have saved thousands 

 of dollars to farmers in this neighborhood. A few fields of corn and 

 grass have been partially destroyed, but by ditching around fields, the 

 worm's ravages have been confined within comparatively narrow 

 limits." 



The worms may be prevented from passing from one field to an- 

 other by judicious ditching. Mr. Trabue has large meadows, sepa- 

 rated only by a road from the blue-grass field of Mr. Flowerree ; and 

 he thought he could keep out the worms by simply making a V-shaped 

 ditch ; believing that they could not crawl over, so long as the earth 

 crumbled. The first evening after it was dug, this ditch seemed to be 

 effectual, and the bottom was covered with one seething, twisting 

 mass of the worms ; but a heavy rain came on in the night following, 

 after which they crossed without difficulty. Mr. Jas. Dimmitt how- 

 ever, who had SO acres of wheat adjoining the fatal blue-grass field, 

 effectually protected it by surrounding it with a ditch which had the 

 inner side slanting under, towards the field it was intended to protect. 

 It was indeed most fortunate that Mr. Dimmibt had hit upon the true 

 method in the beginning, for his wheat was yet in that soft state, in 

 which many of the ears would have been devoured or cut off; and 

 friend Trabue was not long in profiting by his example. 



A good plan to destroy the worms which accumulate in the fur- 

 row or ditch is to burn straw in it; for the fire not only kills the 

 worms, but makes the earth in the ditch friable and more efficient in 

 preventing their ascent. A heavy roller passed over a field will kill 

 almost every worm, and I have already stated that hogs and poultry 

 will devour great numbers of them. But it is always better and 

 easier to prevent than to cure. 



Lbugania. unipuncta, Haw. — Larva — General color dingy black, with the piliferous spots, 

 placed in the normal position, but scarcely visible, though the soft hairs arising from them ar» 

 easily seen with a lens. Four lateral light lines, of almost equal thickness, and at about equal 



