CUT-WORM. 



CUT-WORM. 



remain curled up, in little cavities which each j 

 one makes for itself in the earth, till the follow- j 

 ing spring." 



Such are the descriptions given by the natu- 

 ralists of the cut-worms and their moths found 

 in the Eastern States. We wish it was in our 

 power to furnish as much accurate information 

 upon the subject of the cut-worms found in the 

 other portions .of the United States, provided 

 any essential differences exist. The deficiency, 

 so far as a portion of the Middle States is in- 

 terested, has been supplied in a great measure 

 through the researches of Dr. F. E. Melsheimer, 

 of York county, Pennsylvania, who, in a 

 communication made to Dr. Harris, gives the 

 following information. 



"There are several species of Jlgrotis, the 

 larvse of which are injurious to culinary plants ; 

 but the chief culprit with us is the same as 

 that which is destructive to young maize. 

 The corn cut-worms make their appearance in 

 great numbers at irregular periods, and confine 

 themselves in their devastations to no particu- 

 lar vegetables, all that are succulent being 

 relished by these indiscriminate devourers; 

 but, if their choice is not limited, they prefer 

 maize plants, when not more than a few inches 

 above the earth, early-sown buckwheat, young 

 pumpkin-plants, young beans, cabbage-plants, 

 and many other field and garden vegetables." 

 " When first disclosed from the eggs they sub- 

 sist on the various grasses. They descend in 

 ine ground on the approach of severe frosts, 

 and reappear in the spring about half-grown. 

 They seek their food in the night or in cloudy 

 weather, and retire before sunrise into the 

 ground, or beneath stones or any substance 

 which can shelter them from the rays of the 

 sun ; here they remain coiled up during the 

 day, except while devouring the food which 

 they generally drag into their places of con- 

 cealment. Their transformation to pupae oc- 

 curs at different periods, sometimes earlier 

 sometimes later, according to the forwardness 

 of the season, but usually not much later than 

 the middle of July." " The moths, as well as the 

 larvae, vary much in the depth of their colour, 

 from a pale ash to a deep or obscure brown. 

 The ordinary spots of the upper wings of the 

 moth are always connected by a blackish line; 

 where the. colour is of the deepest shade these 

 spots are scarcely visible, but when the colour 

 is lighter they are very obvious." This moth, 

 Dr. Harris informs us, is very abundant in the 

 New England States, from the middle of June 

 till the middle or end of August. The fore- 

 wings are generally of a dark ash-colour, with 

 only a very faint trace of the double transverse 

 wavy bands that are found in most species of 

 Jlgrotis. These expand one inch and three- 

 quarters. When shut they overlap and cover 

 the back so flatly and closely as to allow the 

 moth to creep into very narrow chinks and cre- 

 vices. During the day they lie hidden under 

 the bark of trees, in the chinks of fences, and 

 even under the loose clapboards of buildings. 

 When the blinds of houses are opened in the 

 morning, a little swarm of these insects which. 

 on the arrival of day, had crept behind them 

 for concealment, is sometimes exposed, and 

 suddenly roused from their beginning slumbers. 



This kind of moth, Dr. Harris says, has the 

 form and general appearance of some species 

 of the genus Porophda. He has named it the 

 rltnitlestiiic owlet-moth. 



The fact of the identity established by na- 

 turalists between this moth as found in New 

 England and Pennsylvania, affords strong 

 reason to infer that the same species of cut- 

 worms are to be met with over most, if not all, 

 portions of the United States. 



Having thus described these insects under 

 their various forms of destructive larvae or ca- 

 terpillars, winged moths into which these are 

 converted, and mentioned their times and sea- 

 sons of coming, going, and changing, so far at 

 least as naturalists have traced these out, we 

 shall proceed to notice the remedies which 

 have been tried and proposed to destroy them, 

 or prevent their ravages. 



Among the various means resorted to for the 

 protection of Indian corn and other plants, is 

 the soaking of the seed in copperas or other 

 poisonous solution previous to planting or 

 sowing. Rolling the seed in quick-lime, or 

 unleached ashes, has also been recommended. 

 Any one of these remedies may have some ef- 

 fort in protecting the seed against wire-worms 

 (/i'/i) which only attack the grain or its root, 

 but cannot answer against cut-worms which 

 do not eat the seed or root, but prey upon the 

 sprouts and young stalks.* They may, how- 

 ever, as Dr. Harris observes, be of some bene- 

 fit by stimulating the young plant and pro- 

 moting its more rapid growth, by which it will 

 be sooner placed beyond danger from the at- 

 tacks of cut-worms. Fall-ploughing of sward- 

 lands, which are intended to be sown with 

 wheat or planted with corn the following year, 

 will turn up and expose the insects to the in- 

 clemency of the winter, whereby many of them 

 will be killed. Some will be destroyed at the 

 time by birds. This remedy, however, may be 

 objectionable in stiff clay soils, which would 

 become very much packed or baked during 

 the winter. 



Among other remedies, one proposed by Mr. 

 Park Shee of Delaware county, Pennsylvania, 

 is said to be a simple and expeditious mode of 

 destroying cut-worms. A pair of old wheels 

 are to be fitted with projections like the cogs 

 of a spur-wheel in a mill, which must be so 

 formed as to make holes in the earth during 

 the turning of the wheel, four inches deep. 

 The smooth track which the wheels make on 

 the soft ground, induces the worm in its noc- 

 turnal wanderings, to follow on till it tumbles 

 into the pit. It cannot climb out, and is de- 

 stroyed by the hot sun. 



The only effectual remedy at present known, 

 Dr. Harris thinks, consists in turning a suffi- 

 cient force into the fields infested, to scratch 

 up and destroy the worms by hand. This 

 may require several days, but will generally be 

 successful in securing the crop, when replant- 

 ing is performed at the same time. Estimates 

 of the cost of labour and time thus expended, 



* Tn regard lo wire-worms, care must be taken not to 

 confound the American insects with those bearing a 

 similar name in England. See SPRING-BEETLES, under 

 the head of BEETLE, p. 174. 



391 



