308 EEPOKT UPON COTTON INSECTS. 



corn. This is called the " corn- worm," the " ear- worm," the "tassel- 

 worm." About the 1st of July the eggs are laid, probably near the end 

 of the husk of corn. Very few eggs are laid upon cotton growing in the 

 same field. The larvae feed upon the silk and tender grains near the 

 ends of the ears, destroying many ears and rendering many others 

 unfit for use. It is a noticeable fact that, while the individuals of the 

 two earlier broods have for the most part varied little in color, being 

 chiefly of a pale green, this third brood consists of worms of the various 

 shades of green, pink, and rose. These larvae attain full growth prob- 

 ably in the shortest time of any of the broods, and boring through the 

 husks fall to the ground to pupate as before. 



By the 1st of August or thereabouts, when the time for a fourth brood 

 has arrived, the ears of corn have begun to harden, while cotton bolls 

 and forms are very plentiful. Instinct teaches the moths of the third 

 brood to lay their eggs upon cotton instead of upon corn as their parents 

 have done. We have mentioned the fact that a few worms are to be 

 found upon cotton previous to this time. An occasional individual will 

 be found to have attained his growth on cotton in May, before a flower- 

 bud has appeared, and which has evidently fed entirely upon cotton 

 leaves. 



Mr. G. W. Hazard, of Eutledge, Ala., makes the statement: "Bud- 

 worms injure the cotton while very young, in cool wet springs, generally 

 in the last of April and through May." 



Mr. Trelease found the first larvae eating the flower-buds or forms as 

 early as June 11 ; but very few were found from this time on until the 

 appearance of the fourth brood upon cotton, thus demonstrating plainly 

 that a corn diet is much preferred so long as certain tender portions can 

 be obtained. 



The habits of this fourth brood have already been given in the general 

 remarks concerning the boll- worm upon cotton. It is by far the most 

 destructive brood. About the 1st of September the moths of this brood 

 are to be seen in great numbers at night sucking the nectar of cotton, 

 cassia, and cow-pea. 



The fifth brood begins early in September, and is also confined to cot- 

 ton. In all but the most southern portions of the cotton-belt this brood 

 appears normally to be the last, its chrysalides living through the win- 

 ter in their underground cells. With an exceptionally fine season it 

 seems probable that there may be another brood, but upon this point 

 we have, as yet, no evidence. 



These remarks upon the number of broods are made from observa- 

 tions the present year in Central Alabama, and the following facts must 

 be taken into consideration : that the observations were limited geograph- 

 ically to a single point, central, it is true, but were unconfirmed by ob- 

 servations from other points. Moreover, 1879 was by no means a bad 

 worm year. From opposite extremes of the cotton-belt we should ex- 

 pect to find variation in opposing directions from this as an average. In 



