REPORT OF THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 34l 



be^nning with the ontermost, be stripped off nearly to the basses of their 

 sh jaths, a quantity of brown, dry excrement will be found, increasing 

 in quantity as the center of the plant is approached, ^ntil at last the 

 usually pale green worm is reached, either within the sheath of a leaf 

 or in a cavity eaten into the closely rolled terminal leaves. When full 

 grown, it gnaws a circular hole through the leaves directly outwards 

 from the point where it has been feeding and falls to the'ground, where 

 it transforms to a chrysalis, as before described. 



It is difficult to estimate the usual amoant of damage done by the 

 first brood, as it differs so much in different localities. It seems, how- 

 ever, never to be alarmingly great, on account of the comparatively 

 small numbers. Observations on a smaU scale in Alabama, showed 

 about one plant in forty to be infested by them. 



A second brood makes its appearance in Alabama from the first to 

 the middle of June. The eggs are, as before, for the most part laid upon 

 the corn leaves. Some few are laid upon cotton — more, usually than is 

 the case with the first brood. The young larvae feed upon the Weaves as 

 before and upon the tassels. As they approach full growth they are 

 found within the young ears, feeding upon the sUk, the milky kernels as 

 fast as they appear, and upon the tender cob. Upon reaching full size 

 they bore through the shuck and fall to the ground. The moths of this 

 second brood may be seen flying in considerable numbers in the early 

 part of July. 



It is the next, the third brood proper, which does most damage to 

 corn. This is called the " corn-worm," the "ear- worm," or the "tassel- 

 worm." About the 1st of July the eggs are laid, probably near the end 

 of the husk of cora. Very few eggs are laid upon cotton growing in the 

 same field. The larvae feed upon the silk and tender grains near the 

 ends of the ears, destroying many ears and rendering many others 

 unfit for use. It is a noticeable fact that, while the individuals of the 

 two earlier broods have for the most part varied little in color, being 

 chiefly of a pale green, this third brood consists of worms of the various 

 shades of green, pink, and rose. These larvae attain full growth prob- 

 ably in the shortest time of any of the broods, and boring through the 

 husks fall to the ground to pupate as before. 



By the 1st of August or thereabouts, when the time for a fourth brood < 

 has arrived, the ears of corn have begun to harden, while cotton bolls 

 and forms are very plentiful. Instinct teaches the moths of the third 

 brood to lay their eggs upon cotton instead of upon corn, as their parents 

 have done. We have mentioned the fact that a few worms are to be 

 found upon cotton previous to this time. An occasional individual will 

 be found to have attained his growth on cotton in May, before a flower- 

 bud has appeared, and which has evidently fed. entirely upon cotton 

 leaves. 



Mr. G. W. Hazard, of Rutledge, Ala., makes the statement: "Bud- 

 worms injure the cotton while very young, in cool wet springs, generally 

 in the last of April and through May." 



Mr. Trelease found the first larvae eating the flower-buds or forms as 

 early as June 11 ; but very few were found from this time on until the 

 appearance of the fourth brood upon cotton, thus demonstrating plainly 

 that a corn diet is much preferred so long as certain tender portions can 

 beobtained. 



The habits of this fourth brood have already been given in the gene- 

 ral remarks concerning the boll-worm upon cotton. It is by far the 

 most destructive brood. About the 1st of September the motlis of this 



