Fig. 130. 



-Boll-worm feeding upon a tomato. 

 (After Riley.) 



Noctuidae 



United States, and being of a singularly gluttonous habit in the 



larval stage, has become the object of execration to farmers and 



horticulturists. It 



is a very promis- 

 cuous feeder, but 



shows a special 



fondness for 



young Indian corn 



in the ear and for 



cotton bolls. On 



account of the 



latter peculiarity 



it has received the 



name we have 



applied above. It 



attacks the fruit 



of the tomato when still green, and causes it to rot on the vines. 



It also feeds upon pumpkins, peas, beans, hemp, and, it is said, 



upon tobacco. 



An excellent ac- 

 count of its habits 

 has been given by 

 Prof. C. V. Riley in 

 his "Third Annual 

 Report " as State 

 Entomologist of 

 Missouri. It is from 

 that paper that we 

 have extracted the 

 figures, which are 

 herewith given, and 

 which serve to illus- 

 trate the life-history 

 of the insect. The 



Fig. 131. Heliothis armiger. a. Egg viewed from mot u ranffp . a ii nvpr 

 the side; b. Egg viewed from on top (both eggs m0in ran g es a11 over 

 magnified) ; c. Larva ; d. Pupa; e-f. Moth. (After the United States and 



^^ southern Canada. It 



is most abundant in the southern portion of our territory, where 



there are from three to four broods annually. It is here in the 



123 



