12 



The full gro^n caterpillar (Fig. 6) measures about one and one- 

 half inches in length and a trifle less than one-quarter of an inch in 

 diameter. The body is dingy blacl< in color and bears a few, short 

 scattered hairs. Along the sides of the back are two narrow white 

 lines extending the whole length of the body ; a third whi<;e line 

 begins at the head between the other two, but after extending a short 

 distance backwards it becomes very faint and almost lost in an indis- 

 tinct deep black stripe which reaches to the end of the body. Below 

 the first-mentioned white line comes a rust-colored stripe which is so 

 mottled with black that it does not show very plainly ; below this is 

 a fine white line ; then comes a broad black stripe and below it a 

 prominent dull reddish stripe bordered above and below with white. 

 The under surface is more or less greenish. The head is nearly as 

 large around as the body, and has two black linos from the top down 

 toward the mouth. There nre sixteen legs in all and those from the 

 middle of the body are each marked with a shining black band. The 

 young caterpillars feed mostly in the night, but later in life they can 

 be found feeding during the day. When disturbed they curl them- 

 selves like cut-worms and drop suddenly to the ground, often from 

 quite a height. 



After completing its growth which requires about a month, the 

 caterpillar burrows an inch or two into the ground or conceals itself 

 in rubbish and soon changes to a maliogany brown pupa. (Fig. o.) 

 In from two to three weeks the motli emerges. The moth (Fig. 5) 

 is of a light reddish-brown or dark fawn color, and is of much the 

 same general shape and size as most cut-worm moths, measuring 

 about one and three-quarters inches across when the wings are out- 

 spread. One can quickly recognize it by a small white spot near the 

 centre of each fore wing and by an oblique dash of black extending 

 from the outer front border of the wing toward this while spot. The 

 hind wings are dusky in color and are almost bhick near the outer 

 margin ; on the under side they have a distinct black spot near the 

 middle. The moths are nocturnal in their habits, fly rapidly, and 

 rarely ascend more than a few feet from the ground. 



The number of annual broods and the mode of hibernation of the 

 Army Worm varies in different parts of the countrj'. Heretofore it 

 has been generally accepted that in Massachusetts there were two 

 broods and that the winter was passed as a partly grown caterpillar ; 

 but the observations of the past year tend to dispute both of these 



