EXPERIMENT STATION EEPORT. 



543 



vast majoritv of all tlio larv<B were parasitized, this time parasites 

 "vvere almost absent, and all the larvse brought in pupated, although 

 not all reached the adult stage. The only disease present was 

 -where the larva? were crowded in great numbers on com, when 

 A'eritable decaying masses of them were lodged at the bases of the 

 leaves and close to the stalk. 



This absence of parasitism and disease leads to the fear that, if 

 the spring of 1007 is favorable, the insects may appear in yet 

 greater num])ers and over a larger extent of territory, liemce a brief 

 account of the life history and of the methods adopted to prevent 

 injury are here given: 



Life History. 



The adult is a so-called "miller*' or owlet moth, such as is often 

 attracted to light on hot, sultry nights ; of a dark reddish clay color, 

 poAvdered with black atoms, and a little white spot near the middle 

 of the fore wings, from which the name is derived. It is in this 

 moth stage that the insect usually lives through the winter, or 

 liibernates, although hi- 



bernation in the pupal 

 stage is not uncommon, 

 and it may also occur 

 in the lan'al stage. 



This niotli, whether it 

 hibernates or whether it 

 emerges from the pupa 

 in early spring, lays its 

 ■eggs on grass or grain, 

 favoring under ordi- 

 nary circumstances the rankest and densest growth, because it 

 finds the^re the best shelter for the five to eight hundred eggs which 

 •constitute the sup|)ly of one female. The eggs are laid close 

 together, in series of t^vcnty or more, and are oovered wdth a 

 Avhitish, adhesive fluid, which fastens them to each other and holds 

 them in position on the grass blade. They hatch in a.bout a week 

 from the time they were first laid and produce a dull reddish or 

 broA\m caterpillar marked with yellow^ and black longitudinal lines. 

 Growth continues until these caterpillars become nearly two inches 

 in length, and then they make' their way to the ground a,nd change 



Fig 



J.eumnia nnipuncta : parent motli of Army Worm, with 

 some details of structure. After Riley. 



