ENTOMOLOGY 171 



While the bill-bug is known "best by its work on corn, it is really 

 timothy that suffers the most from its ravages. Working as it does 

 in the bulbous roots of the timothy, it is able to pass unnoticed un- 

 less it occurs in very large numbers. Here in the timothy bulbs 

 are passed the immature stages, the adults emerging at just the 

 right time to attack the young corn. The moral is not to plant corn 

 after timothy in places where one has reason to fear the presence 

 of the beetles. When the beetles have once come out and done their 

 work in the corn, there seems to be no danger from re-seeding, for 

 there is but one generation each year and the beetles require timothy 

 for their early development. 



Cut Worms. Just about the time that the danger from crows 

 has abated somewhat, the young sweet-corn is often called upon to 

 withstand an attack by cut-worms. There are striped cut-worms, 

 dark, light, glassy, greasy and many other sorts, each belonging to 

 a different species, and each developing into its corresponding moth. 

 The moths or millers are nocturnal in their habits, and are spoken of 

 as owlet-moths because of their habits and the shape of their heads. 



Cut-worms naturally work on sod land, and for this reason, it 

 is well to avoid planting corn, tobacco, tomatoes or anything else 

 especially liable to their attacks directly after grass. Then too, the 

 great majority of our cut-worms pass the winter in a partially grown 

 condition, and when spring comes, and the sod and roots are re- 

 placed by a comparatively smaller number of corn plants, the worms 

 are hardly to be blamed for feeding on them. Sod land, then, has 

 its disadvantages when used before a crop liable to attack by cut- 

 worms. It is also a menace when adjacent to a corn-field, for the 

 worms will travel quite a distance from their breeding grounds in 

 order to get at their favorite food. They work at night, traveling on 

 the surface of the soil, and cutting off the plants low down at or 

 just below the soil level. They cut off much more than they can 

 use and then retire before daybreak, burrowing lightly and hiding 

 often near the plant just cut off. One worm will forage night after 

 night and destroy many times as much food as could be eaten. One 

 can not help wondering at its wasteful habits. It has been suggested 

 that the food is cut in order to let it wilt before it is eaten. Wet food 

 docs not seem to agree with some caterpillars, neither does that which 

 is too vigorous and turgid. It is not unreasonable to suppose that 

 much of the food is cut in order that it may wilt and be ready for 

 future use, rather than from mere wanton destructiveness. As has 

 been stated many of the cut-worms pass the winter in a partially 

 grown condition, just beneath the surface of the soil. Occasionally, 

 in winter, during a sudden thaw, the larvae will crawl up on top of 

 the snow, being driven upward by the water from the melting ice 

 and snow. In such cases they seldom get back into winter quar- 

 ters, but perish as soon as it freezes again. The writer has seen the 

 snow thickly dotted with cut-worms on such occasions. Many para- 

 sites feed on them and shrews and birds devour quantities. 



The measure that has been most successful in the past, is tho 

 use of poisoned baits, when the trouble is on a large scale. On a 



