THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



115 



[Fig. 49,] the more I become convinced that the long-accepted 



theory of their eggs being deposited on the ground 

 is a false one, and that most of our cut-worms 

 though fat, lazy and groveling in the ground when 

 we find them, have been born in more elevated and 



#i exalted positions. 

 In the fall of 1868 this worm proved very des- 

 tructive to the newly sown wheat in many parts of 

 Franklin and St. Louis counties, Mo., and seemed to 

 be confined to such wheat as was sown on oats stub- 

 ble. I then accounted for this singular state of things 

 by supposing that the scattering oats which were left 

 after harvest had sprouted before the wheat, and had 

 thus attracted the parent moths* ; and, acting 

 upon this supposition, I suggested that the attacks of the worm might 

 effectually be prevented by plowing the land early and keeping the 

 ground clear of all vegetation until the wheat was planted. This 

 inference proves to be well warranted by the facts; and in future, 

 when the Fall Army-worm is heard of during the months of August 

 or September, as it was the present year, it will be wise for those who 

 live in the immediate neighborhood, either to sow no fall grain at all 

 or to endeavor, in doing so, to carry out the above suggestions. The 

 last brood of worms, which at this writing (Nov. 7th) are not yet quite 

 full grown, must evidently pass the winter in the ground, either in 

 the larva or the pupa state. In either case a great many of them 

 would be killed by late fall plowing which should be used, when prac- 

 ticable, as a remedial measure in fields where this insect has been 

 numerous. When the worms are overrunning a field of fall grain, 

 most of them could be destroyed by means of a heavy roller, with- 

 out injury to the grain. 



The question has been repeatedly asked : i{ Will this worm be as 

 numerous next year as it has been this; or will it go on increasing in 

 geometrical ratio, and be still more numerous ?" JS'ow, although I 

 greatly dislike to weaken the confidence that some people seem to 

 place in the oracular power of an entomologist to peer into the future, 

 yet I must meekly confess my inability to give any definite answer to 

 such questions. 



Byron has truly said that, "the best of prophets of the future is 

 the past;" and we may reasonably draw the inference that this worm 

 will not be so abundant next year, because in the past it has only 

 occasionally been so troublesome, and never, so far as the record 

 shows, during two consecutive years. And we may rest tolerably 

 well assured that it will not increase in geometrical ratio, because 

 most vegetable feeding insects are preyed upon by more predaceous 



^Report I, p. 



