85 
account, and night watches instituted with the view of counteract- 
ing this insidious foe, and with good results, as many as eighteen 
hundred having been killed by one fruit-grower in one night.” 
“Their manner of life may be thus described: The moths from 
which the worms are produced appear on the wing during the month 
of August, and soon after pair and deposit their eggs on the ground 
or on some plant or other substance near the ground; they 
probably hatch in the fall, and feed for a time on the leaves of 
erass and other plants then abundant; and after attaining but a 
small measure of their growth, they burrow into the earth, and then 
remain in a torpid state during the winter; but the warmth of 
spring revives them, and soon they are abroad and active. During 
the first few weeks, while they are still small, the quantity of food 
they consume is not sufficient to attract much attention; but as 
they approach nearer maturity, that is, about the time when the 
trees first put out their tender foliage, the quantity of food they 
consume is enormous. In the day time they rest tolerably secure 
from harm, by burrowing a short distance under ground, and towards 
night they sally forth from their hiding places to begin their work 
of destruction. They are extremely active in their movements, and 
travel over quite a space of ground im a very short time, eating 
almost everything green in their way; they climb the trunks of 
trees, and not only the young fohage, but the buds also, leaving the 
limbs almost bare, and before the light of another day dawns they 
retreat to their hiding places and rest in quiet. When full-grown 
they burrow deeper into the earth, and form for themselves an oval 
cell or chamber, in which they change to chrysalis, and from which 
the moths are produced early in the autumn to continue the race. 
In this instance these caterpillars took a decided liking for the 
strawberry vines, and in spite of the most vigilant search for them, 
day after day and night after night, they defoliated a large patch 
of the vines to such an extent that they were utterly ruined. 
Nearly all through the month of June they literally swarmed, and 
scarcely a night passed without considerable damage being done by 
them.”’ 
Concerning remedies for its attack he adds: ‘The battle must be 
fought with this insect while in the larva or caterpillar state, and 
then the surest way of disposing of them is to catch and kill them. 
By searching around the vines just under the surface of the ground 
during the day, many may be turned up and destroyed, and by in- 
specting again at night when they are active and busy, their ranks 
may be still further thinned, and by continuing this treatment, day 
after day, they may no doubt be kept under. Probably dusting the 
vines with hellebore would poison them as it does other leaf-feeding 
insects; this measure is at least worthy of a trial.” 
