ing at night. The time taken by a larva to attain full growth 

 varies with the season of the year and the quantity of food avail- 

 able. A number of larvae of one species, bred from egg to pupa 

 in the laboratory with abundant food and moisture, began to 

 change to pupae on the thirty-eighth day, and had practically 

 all changed by the fortieth day. On the other hand, cutworms 

 are quite capable of fasting altogether for several weeks, and 

 taking up the thread' of their development again after this 

 period, so that the duration of the larval stage is very variable 

 indeed. 



The pupa or chrysalis stage is passed in the earth. Most 

 species construct cells of earth bound together by some gummy 

 substance which hardens on drying. These cells doubtless 

 serve to shield the pupa from sudden changes in temperature 

 and from contact with water. The duration of the pupal stage is 

 very variable. In India, where the " greasy cutworm " has 

 been studied in some detail, the pupal period is given at from 

 ten days to a month. In this country, one species has varied 

 from about twelve days to about six weeks, whilst another took 

 twenty days. A. segetis has been found to vary from a fort- 

 night to thirty-eight days in the pupal stage. The pupal stage 

 in general is longer in winter than in summer. 



The female moth lays a large number of eggs. In the 

 case of A. segetis, as many as 1,700 have been counted from 

 a single female. 



Preventive Measures. Preventive measures must aim at 

 two things : (1) to see that the seedbeds are free from cutworms 

 when the seed is sown, and (2) to prevent them from becoming 

 infested after the plants are above ground. To ensure the 

 former, the beds should first of all be thoroughly burnt over 

 with wood or dry tobacco stalks. This is usually done in 

 Southern Rhodesia, but burning the beds alone is not sufficient 

 owing to the presence of cutworms in the surrounding ground. 

 To get rid of these, the use of poisoned bait is recommended. 

 This is an old and well-known method of destroying cutworms, 

 and several different formulae are used. A formula recom- 

 mended in the United States of America consists of : 



Molasses 2 quarts. 



Paris green 1 Ib. 



Wheat bran . 50 Ibs. 



