﻿40 EIGHTH ANNUAL REPORT 



in old straw piles. Many fine meadows in the county were entirely destroyed by tiiem^ 

 and in every instance, upon inquiry. I found tliey could be traced to the old ricks of 

 straw contiguous to the meadows. They would pass from meadow to mt-adow, g-oing 

 through tields of wheat, eating only the cheat.— [F. M. Dixon, Jeflerson City, Cote Co. 



They invariably hatch in low lands or in or about old straw yards and low prai- 

 ries. Th^y do not seem to inhabit high lands, or visit them as frequently as low ' 

 grounds.— [Elihu Canaday, Jones City, Pettis Co. 



The above experience accords with that of a large number of 

 persons who have observed the insect in years past ; and from it we 

 may conclude, 1st, that the moth lays her eggs in standing grass and 

 grain stalks, but also in such as have been cut and made into stacks 

 and ricks. 



WHEN AKE THE EGGS LAID ? 



This question can only be answered in a positive manner when 

 that we have just been considering is definitely settled. Neverthe- 

 less, we have facts enough to warrant our drawing conclusions with 

 sufficient confidence. Practically the knowledge of the time of de- 

 position is almost as important as that of the place. There have been, 

 and can well be, but two opinions, viz., that they are laid either in the 

 Spring or in the Fall. Every one who has had anything to do with the 

 rearing of this moth or who has given any attention to it, knows that 

 in the latitude of St. Louis, it issues on an average in from two to 

 three weeks after the worm enters the ground. In this latitude they 

 may be taken abundantly at sugar, from the middle of June to 

 October. During all this time they may be noticed, when abundant, 

 in our pastures and meadows, and especially in such as are rank and 

 undisturbed. They have a strong flight, and in alighting dash down 

 into the grass, apparently without any caution, and from observations 

 which Prof. Thomas made last summer, it would appear that they 

 mostly fly close to the ground and ascend but a few feet, since, 

 though they were common about his residence, none reached his bed- 

 chamber on the second floor. My own experience accords with this. 

 The most interesting feature about this moth in the present connec- 

 tion, is that the ova are without any appreciable development at the 

 time of issuing, for which reason, as 1 have already stated, I have 

 always been unable to obtain eggs in confinement. By pressing the 

 abdomen so as to extrude to their utmost the telescopic joints on which 

 the ovipositor plays, the ovaries will issue from the lower part of the 

 valve in the form of two little white sacks. A week after the moth 



ssues the eggs are only just discernible in these sacks, like so many 

 little specks all very regularly and beautifully arranged. 



In order to throw light on the question under consideration, I 



have dissected and carefully examined a large number of female 



