57 



Following this, on page 363, in the number for December, 1870, 

 occurs a long article upon this insect, which is there called the "fall 

 army worm," and described and discussed as Prodenia autumnalis n. s. 

 The moth and larva are figured and very fully described, a brief 

 description being also given of the pupa. Two varieties of the 

 imago are distinguished and described as fulvosa and obscura ; the 

 occurrence of the worm in destructive numbers during that season 

 in many parts of Kansas, Illinois and Missouri is noted ; compari- 

 son of its characters and habits with those of the common army 

 worm is made at length, the probable number of its broods and other 

 points in its life history are discussed, and an account is given of its 

 habits of oviposition, and a description of the egg. In Kiley's second 

 report, page 41, this species is referred to as Laphiifima frugiperda of 

 Smith and Abbott, but evidently not identified by the writer with 

 the "wheat cutworm" of his previous report. 



In his third report, that for 1870, Eiley again recurs to the subject, 

 treating the grass w^orm at length, but now under the name of Pro- 

 denia autumnalis. This article is substantially the same as that 

 already mentioned, published in the Entomologist and Botanist for 

 December 1870, but with some additional details with respect to its 

 injuries to vegetation in Missouri and also concerning its life his- 

 tory and parasites. 



These observations of Riley are referred to next in the report of 

 the United States Department of Agriculture for 1871, but no addi- 

 tional particulars are there given ; and in the report for 1872 of this 

 series the occurrence is recorded of the "grass army worm," as it 

 is called, in Georgia, in destructive numbers, devouring corn, grass, 

 and pea crops. 



In the Eighth Annual Report of the State Entomologist of Missouri 

 page 48, Mr. Riley again refers to it in an article on the true army 

 worm, and in a foot note concedes the identity of the species with 

 the Phalcena frugiperda of Smith and Abbott and the Laphygma 

 frugiperda of Guenee. 



The "grass army worm" is first mentioned in the Illinois Reports 

 in the seventh of the series, pages 97 and 219, in a brief article by 

 Prof. Thomas, compiled chiefly from previously published notices, 

 but containing some additional particulars respecting its life history 

 in that part of Central Illinois where it was first observed. 



Mention of its carnivorous habit under peculiar circumstances as 

 reported by Mr. Glover in the Report of the Department of Agri- 

 cultural for 1855, (p. 100) is made in Prof. Comstock's elaborate 

 report upon Cotton Insects published by the United States Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture in 1879. 



I have also seen a brief notice of its occurrence in cotton fields, 

 in Bulletin No. 3, of the United States Entomological Commission, 

 where its is barely mentioned as sometimes very abundant in cot- 

 ton fields and likely to be mistaken for the true cotton worm 

 (Aletia.) 



In the American Entomologist for January, 1880, advanced sheets 

 of the above article were printed containing the same notice. 



