85 



TllK SIMNDIJ-: WOli.M. 



Achatodes zeac Harr. 



The li.'ihits ..f this r-utcrpillur are similar to tPiose of tlu; cornnioii 

 .stalk-lKjrcr, aIroa<ly troatcMl (pages 44-47); but, althougfi it occurs in 

 Illinois anri is at times quite injurious to elder bushes, it has not yet 

 ber'ti foini.i by us injuring corn in this state, and its attacks on that crop 

 are probably only occasional. The cateq^illar is about a.i inch long 

 y(;llowish white, with black hea<l, ncH-k, and anal shield, and with a doubh- 

 row of small, smooth, elevated shining black dots across each of the other 

 segm(!nts. It is thus easily distin- 

 guishable from the stalk-borer, whicli, 

 it will be remembered, is livid }m)wn, 

 with consf)icuous white stripes. 



Maturing earlier in the season 

 thjin tli(! stalk-borer, it attacks only 

 young corn, whicli it enters near the 

 ground, and, working up or down in ^^y n 



the stalk, cuts off the growing tip so * 



that the withered tufl of terminal Jl'l^i,. I!;^ hd^r^Th!;^V.a,^rarS' 

 leaves may Ix; pulled out of their 



sheath. It also makes round holes in thi; opening leaves as it eats its 

 way downward, and destroys the developing ears, so that none form on 

 stalks which have been thus attacked. 



Little is on record of actual injury to corn }>y this species except the 

 original report by Harris of its work in New England, wliere, lie says, 

 its ravages generally begin belV^re the (;orn s|)indle rises much above the 

 tuft of leaves in which it is embosomed. Tx-sides corn and (!lder, it was 

 found by him to infest the stems of dahlia, and it probably occurs in many 

 other thick-stemmed plants. 



When it breeds in elder twigs, the caterpillar gnaws towards the 

 surface at some point when full grown, unljl only the thin bark remains, 

 when it pupates within its burrow. Aft(!rward the stem gives away 

 at this point, allowing the part above to hang downward. In our breed- 

 uig-cages one out of a number of these caterpillars [)upated in th(! earth; 

 the remainder, in their larval channels. The; shining maiujgany-brown 

 [jupa, three quarters of an inch long, is armc-d in front with a pair of 

 roughened tubercles, probably used to break tlu; rniticle left by the larva 

 at the point of escape. 



The life history of this species is very imperfe(;tly recorrled. The catfir- 

 pillar was abundant in elder twigs May 27, and i)upated in (jur bre(Hling- 

 cages about June 8, and the moths app(;ared from Jiuie 23 to June 2G, 

 when the experiment was interru]>ted with living pupa^ still in the cage. 



