THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 109 



an important agent in the matter. As the flies feed only at night, the 

 plates should be visited late every evening, the insects taken out, and 

 the vessels replenished as circumstances may require. I have tried 

 the experiment with results equally satisfactory, and shall con- 

 tinue it until a better one is adopted.' 7 



Mr. J. M. Heard, of Monroe county, Wisconsin, patented in 1860 y 

 a device for trapping the moth, which consists of a tin plate placed 

 on a funnel, which is connected with a bait-pan made of the same 

 material, and which is to be partially filled with molasses mixed with 

 a little anise, fennel or other essential oil. From one summer's test 

 of the trap, I do not think much of it as a decoy for the moth, and it 

 would be altogether too expensive, when the great number required 

 to properly protect a large cotton field is taken into consideration. 



THE FALL ARMY-WORM— Prodenia antumnalis, Riley. 



[Lepidoptera, Noctuidse.] 



In 1868 the true Army-worm appeared in certain portions of the 

 State and I gave a full account of it in my second Report. Last fall 

 another worm very generally mistaken for thatinsect made its appear- 

 ance very generally over the State, and caused considerable alarm. 

 Specimens were sent to me from Moniteau, Jefferson, Pulaski and 

 Cole counties, while it was common throughout the greater portion of 

 the county of St. Louis. 



The first notice I received of it was from the following item which 

 appeared in the Journal of Agriculture of St. Louis : 



Army worm. — Editors Journal Agriculture: Since Friday (20th 

 August), the Army-worm has made its appearance in distressingly 

 large numbers almost everywhere in this (Cole) county. They have 

 destroyed for me more than an acre of turnips, a good deal of my late 

 soiling corn, and are still on the march for more. Farther in the 

 country they have eaten up the buckwheat, which is just coming into 

 bloom. Could our esteemed friend Riley give us an article in the 

 next Journal f—F. A Mtchy. 



Jkfferson City, Mo., August 29th, 1870. 



The following published paragraphs, which all refer to this same 

 worm, and which chanced to meet m}' eye, will give some idea of the 

 extent of country through which it ranged. 



Fall Army-worm. — We have received specimens of the Fall 

 Army worm from several persons. The complaints of its ravages are 

 quite numerous almost all over the State ; they are very bad in north- 

 east Missouri. Threatening at Tipton, from which place we have 

 samples, and in St. Louis and Jefferson counties they are quite bad. 

 This pest only returns at intervals, perhaps on account of parasitic 



