17 



The stalk of the young plant penetrated by a round^holc which is 

 more or less plugged by excrement. The interior of the stalk 



irregularly eaten out by a striped burrowing caterpillar 



The Stalk-borer {Papaipema niicUi). 44 



The entire plant more or less completely eaten, the leaves first and 

 then the stalk, in June and early July, by hordes of traveling 

 striped caterpillars commonly coming into the field from one 

 side The Army- worm (Leucania unipuncUi) . 47 



The stalk punctured and slit, the leaves perforated by round or ob- 

 long holes arranged in i)arallel transverse rows. Hard-shelled, 

 oval, black or clay-colored snout-beetles often found, head 

 downward, on the stalk near the ground or a little l)encath the 

 surface Corn Jiill-bugs (Sphcnophoras). 52 



Plant wilted or sickly, leaf-edges and lower leaves turned yellow or 

 brown, many small red or (kisky, or ])lackish and whitish bugs 

 behind the leaf sheaths of the corn, or clustered on outer surface 

 of the stalk The Chiiu'h-bug (Blissus leucopteriis) . 57 



The leaves of tlic plant variously eaten, sometimes stripped to the 

 midrib, about the borders of the field, in late summer or fall. 



The silks and husks also more or less eaten away 



Grasshoppers {Acrididce). 64 



The husk of the ear perforated by a round hole with the excrement 

 exuding, the corn mined beneath by a brownish, or greenish, 



striped cater])illar 



The Ear- worm or Corn-worm (Ileliothis armiijcr). 67 



THE CORN CUTWORMS. 



Hadena devastatrix Brace. Nephelodes minians Gucn. 



//. arciica Boisd. Hadena lignicolor Guen. 



Agrotis ijpsilon Rott. Noctua clandestina Harr. 



Peridroma margaritosa saucia Hiibn. Feltia annexa Tr. 



Noctua c-nigrum Linn. Euxoa messoria Harr. 



Feltia suhgothica Haw. E. tesscllata Harr. 



F. jaculifera Guen. PJ. ochrogasler (Juen. 



F. gladiaria Morr. Mamestra renigcra Steph. 



. The caterpillars commonly known as " cutworms " destroy the young 

 corn plant by eating the leaves, gnawing into the stalks, and cutting off 

 the plant close to the ground at night, often dragging the severed part 

 into their holes near by. They hide by day under clods, or by burying 

 themselves a little distance in the earth, where they may be easily found 

 curled up into a close si)iral or a circular disk. They are thick, soft- 

 bodied, rather sluggish caterpillars, with nearly smooth skins, varying 

 in color from whitish to dark brown, variously marked, in many cases 

 with longitudinal stripes, and often witli dark dashes and blotches addi- 



