INTRODUCTION. 



There are 35 or more species of cut worms and .army worms 

 known in the Hawaiian Islands. Of these, the majority are 

 native and live mostly in the mountains or high plains. Only 

 four of the native species (Cirphis amblycasis, Cirphis pyrrhias. 

 Feltia dislocata and Agrotis crinigera) have so far become 

 pests in cane fields. The other native species have apparently 

 been kept in check by their parasites and other enemies, or re- 

 main at higher elevations than canefields. Some species are 

 quite rare, but others sometimes become abundant locally. 



Besides the four native species mentioned above, the other 

 species treated of in this circular are cosmopolitan, occurring 

 in most of the warmer parts of the globe. They are pests, 

 wherever known. The army worm {Cirphis unipuncia) is 

 undoubtedly the worst one of them, in the cane fields here. But 

 usually to be found amongst these are one or more of the species 

 above mentioned, though these latter usually are not nearly so 

 numerous as the former, and probably the most of the injury 

 to the cane is done by the army worm. 



From reports of devastation done by these caterpillars in 

 previous years, apparently they are not nearly so serious a pest 

 at present, though I have seen, during the past three years, 

 fields of young cane very badly stripped by them, and hence 

 kept back for a while at the beginning, when it was desirable 

 for it to be getting a good start. .The critical time for the cane 

 is when it first comes up. If the army worms are numerous, 

 they will probably eat the leaves from the young shoots as fast 

 as they appear. Since the growing heart of the cane-shoot is 

 within, and lower down than where they attack it, the shoot is 

 not killed outright, as would be a tomato, cabbage or tobacco 

 plant if cut off at the surface of the ground ; hence, their work 

 in cane fields is not so disastrous as in many other crops. The 

 young shoots of cane, although temporarily checked, eventually 

 reach a growth beyond the attack of the caterpillars, higher 

 than they will climb. 



The various species of caterpillars may be readily identified 

 by comparing them with the figures on the plates, likewise the 

 moths, more satisfactorily than from descriptions. 



