148 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD 



The Moth. As one walks through pasture or grass land, 

 many little white and yellowish moths are seen flying about 

 on all sides, but quickly disappear as they alight on the grass. 

 If a single individual be watched more closely, it will be noticed 

 that in alighting upon a blade of grass it quickly rolls its wings 

 very tightly around its body, and hugs up close to the grass 

 so that it is hardly distinguishable from it. Projecting from the 

 head in front is what appears to be a long beak or snout, on 

 account of which these moths are often known as "snout moths," 

 but which really consists of the palpi or feelers. The " grass- 

 moths," as they are sometimes called, belong to the genus Crambus 

 and include several common species, which are marked with silver 

 stripes and bands, as well as golden lines and markings, so that 

 they often present a very handsome appearance. 



Life History. These are the parents of the web-worms which 

 do so much injury to the young corn-roots, the principal depreda- 

 tors upon corn belonging to the species Crambus caliginosellus. 

 They lay their eggs in grass land in May or early June, dropping 

 them on the surface among the rubbish or vegetation, or attaching 

 them to the grass. The}' are oval in form and of a yellowish color, 

 each being marked with regularly placed ridges. About two hun- 

 dred eggs are laid by each female. In from six to ten days the 

 eggs hatch. The young larvae soon form their loose silken webs 

 or tubes at or a little below the surface of the soil, burrowing 

 among the roots, and feeding upon the stalk and outer leaves, 

 or killing the plant by attacking the crown. The larvae vary 

 considerably in color, from a yellowish white, through pink, 

 to a reddish or brownish shade, and are studded with small 

 tubercles, each bearing a tuft of bristly hairs. The larvae become 

 full grown in from five to seven weeks and are then from one- 

 half to three-fourths of an inch long. During the latter part of 

 July they form cocoons, sometimes in the larval tubes, in which 

 they pass the pupal stage and from which the moths emerge 

 some twelve to fifteen days later. Eggs are laid for another 

 brood in grass lands during August and September, the larvae 

 hatching in September and October and becoming partly grown 

 before winter. They hibernate in their webs over winter, and as 

 soon as the grass commences its growth in the spring they are 

 to be found feeding upon it, becoming full grown early in May. 



