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it also injures the fruit of the tomato, and in southern Illinois it is a 
serious pest of tobacco and cotton. . 
The Fall Army-worm—Another insect very likely to be mistaken 
for the European corn-borer is what is commonly known as the fall 
army-worm. The larva of this insect has very much the same external 
appearance as the corn ear-worm, except that we never find any speci- 
mens of a solid green. It is often found feeding in the ends of ears 
of corn, although it usually has much the same feeding habits as the 
true army-worm. It can be distinguished from the corn ear worm by 
the fact that under the microscope the skin appears smooth with very 
minute black dots. Like the corn ear-worm, this insect belongs to the 
night-moth family (Noctuidae), and it has the claws of the abdominal 
pseudopods in a transverse band. It can not survive the winter in Illi- 
nois, but the moths migrate northward each year from the Southern 
States. It occurs here in really injurious numbers only about one year 
in five to seven. 
The Common Stalk-borer—Another native borer somewhat resem- 
bling the European corn-borer in its manner of feeding is what is generally 
known as the common stalk-borer. Our attention is usually first attract- 
ed to this insect early in spring, by noticing small clumps of dead grass 
around the margins of fields, along roadsides, and in similar situations. 
If we examine these carefully, we shall find a very small caterpillar 
working inside the stems in the center of the clump. These larvae are 
brown with five white stripes, one down the middle of the back and 
two on each side. The side-stripes are interrupted for a considerable 
space near the middle of the body, so that usually one third or more 
of the body is entirely brown except for the stripe on the back, giving 
the insect somewhat the appearance of having been crushed or bruised 
about the middle. As the worms grow they leave the grass and burrow the 
stems of various weeds and cultivated plants. They frequently migrate 
into fields of grain or corn, burrowing in the stems of these plants, caus- 
ing the heads of the grains to whiten and the corn plant to become mis- 
shapen, and often preventing the formation of an ear. They become 
full-grown about the middle of July to the last of August, changing to 
the brown pupal or resting stage in the stems of their food plants, and 
emerging in August and September as dark, grayish brown moths with 
the outer third of the wing lighter and separated from the inner two- 
thirds by a whitish cross-line. The wing expanse is about one and a 
half inches. These moths belong to the same family as the two pre- 
viously mentioned. They fly at night, and lay their eggs in fall about 
the stems of the various weeds and grasses in the same situations in 
which the young larvae are found feeding in spring. 
There are several other species which resemble the European corn- 
borer in the larval or worm stage. One of these is a tineid, the larva 
of which occurs in the stems of Spanish needles and other weeds along 
