MISCELLANEOUS GARDEN INSECTS 



413 



they soon reveal their presence by the peculiar odor when dis- 

 turbed, that they may usually be picked off and crushed, and so 

 rarely become sufficiently numerous to warrant other treatment. 

 They may be readily controlled by spraying or dusting with 

 arsenicals. 



The Celery Looper * 



This species is very closely related to the cabbage looper (page 

 361) and occurs throughout the Northern States east of the Rocky 

 Mountains. According to Forbes and Hart it is more common 

 than the cabbage looper in Illinois, where it is a serious pest of 

 celery and has been reared on sugar-beet, but elsewhere it is not 

 as common. 



The moth has a wing expanse of about two inches, the fore- 

 wings being purplish brown with darker shades of velvety brown 



FIG. 298. The celery looper (Plusia simplex Guen.): male moth and larva 

 , somewhat enlarged. (After Chittenden, U. S. Dept. Agr.) 



and with a prominent silvery white discal spot, while the hind- 

 wings are yellowish, strongly banded with dark fuscous. The 

 caterpillar or larva is similar to that of the cabbage looper, but the 

 spiracles are surrounded with black rings, while in the cabbage 

 looper these rings are indistinct or wanting. 



Forbes and Hart believe that there are three broods in a year. 

 " The caterpillars of the first generation of the year hatch late in 

 May and get their growth late in June or early in July. The life 

 of the second generation extends from the first .part of July to the 



* Plusia simplex Guen. Family Noctuidce. See Chittenden, Bulletin 33, 

 Division of Entomology, U. S. Dept. Agr., p. 73. 



