THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



165 



tlian a liair, which bore into the grain and oc- 

 cupy it, one larva in each kernel. Each ker- 

 nel coutains sufficient food to support one oc- 

 cupant until it reaches maturity, when 'it 

 chnn>;cs to a chrysalis within the jrrain, which, 

 altliough hollowed and almost entirely cou- 

 suiiitd within, appears outwardly sound and 

 phitiip. On pressing between the lingers the 

 Kriiin is found to be soft and yielding, and 

 when dropped into water it tloats on the sur- 

 face. 



AVhon the larva is full grown, it spins a 

 white silken cocoon, which occupies one end 

 of the cavity within the grain, the other end 

 being filled with the castings of the worm. 

 The moth makes its escaix) through a small 

 round hole in the side of the grain, which the 

 larva cuts with its jaws before spinning its 

 cocoon. When preparing this orifice for the 

 escape of the future moth the larva is careful 

 not to cut entirely through, but leaves a thin 

 tissue-like skin unbroken, which the moth 

 finally ruptures when it makes its escape. 

 Tile body of the moth is about one- 

 third of an inch long, and its wings when 

 sprea.l measure about two-thirds of an inch 

 across; the fore wings are of a plain brown- 

 ish buff color, with a satin-like lustre. The 

 hind wings above and below, as also the 

 under side ofthe fore wings, are blackish grey. 



Tills insect is a native of the warmer parts 

 of Europe, and has long been very destructive 



France. It was introduced into the south- 

 ern portion of the United States more than 

 100 years ago, where it has become fully natu- 

 ralized. It is often brought into New York in 

 cargoes of grain, but the climate of the North- 

 ern United States and (Janada appears to be 

 too cold to permit it to thrive amongst us, or 

 to permanently establish itself. It has never 

 yet, to my knowledge, been found within the 

 limits of our Province. 



Tlie chinch bug, which, although always 

 present in our midst, has happily never yet 

 proved a serious trouble with us, has been 

 very destructive to the corn crop in Missouri 

 and Kansas, and combined with the drought, 

 has seriously affected the yield of this cereal 

 in those States. 



The army worm has appeared during the 

 season in some portions of the West, and in- 

 flicted much damage, and there were good 

 reasons for anticipating trouble from this 

 source in our own Province next year, unless 

 the exceptional drought we have lately ex- 

 perienced, and which has been generally look- 

 ed upon as an unmitigated evil, should check 

 their natural increase. The army worm, in 

 common with many other of our night-llying 

 moths, is double brooded, but whether the 

 later brood pass the winter in the larval or 

 chrysalis state has never been fully settled. 

 It is probable that with us the bulk of the 

 brood pass the inclement season in the larval 

 condition, the young larva bin-ruwiug into the 

 ground for protection during the extreme cold 

 of winter. It has been observed l)y entomolo- 

 gists that an unusually wet season, which in- 

 duces a free growth of vegetation is very 

 favorable for the sustenance of these pe.sts, and 

 if preceded by a dry autumn, which appears 

 to have the etfect of disseminating the motliS 

 over a wider area, the worms are often met 

 w^ith in great abundance. During this sum- 

 mer the army worm moths (Leucania iini- 



puncta), which are always present with us to 

 a greater or less extent, have been unusually 

 abundant in the western portion of our Pro- 

 vince. To the sugar-bait, employed by ento- 

 mologists to attract night-Hying moths, these 

 insects have flocked by hundreds, and this has 

 been observed not only in Ontario, but also in 

 the Western States, showing that this mqth 

 has been unusually abundant over an extend- 

 ed district. Millions of their eggs must have 

 been de|)osited on the leaves and stems of 

 grasses, but the intense drought we have had 

 has probably deprived the newly-hatched 

 larvai of the food necessary to their existence, 

 and we may hope that the evil we have suf- 

 fered from in the way of drought has saved 

 us to a great extent from serious invasion of 

 army worms next year. 



Much attention has been paid of late by en- 

 tomologists to the natural conditions which 

 favor or prevent the increase of injurious in- 

 sects; and, I think, there is good ground for 

 expecting, after a few more yeai-s of close ob- 

 servation, that it will not be difficult to prog- 

 nosticate, with a large measure of accuracy, 

 several months in advance, the probabilities 

 as to the insect pests likely to prevail during 

 any year, in a given district. When this can 

 be satisfactorily accomplished, much practi- 

 cal good may be expected to result therefrom, 

 since by avoiding the planting of such crops 

 as are likely to be especially injured by insect 

 hosts and growing others comparatively free 

 for the time from these troubles, a large sav- 

 ing may be ettected. 



During the summer a small moth, well- 

 known to entomologists as a common insect, 

 throughout the Northern States and Canada, 

 but never recorded as destructive, anywhere, 

 has invaded the pastures in some parts of 

 Northern New York, and inflicted great in- 

 jury. It is a species of Crambus, Cramhus vul- 

 fjivwjellus.. The Crambidae are known by the 

 common name of grass moths, from the fact 

 that as far as is known they all feed in the 

 larval state on grass, and hence the moths are 

 found everywhere in meadows, flying about in 

 the daytime, with a short but rapid flight. 

 The moths are small, with narrow front wings, 

 which are usually ornamented with metallic 

 spots and stripes. It was about tlie middle 

 of May that a serious invasion of what was 

 popularly supposed to be the army worm, oc- 

 curred in St. Lawrence county. New York. 

 The State entomologist, prof. J. A. Lintner 

 at once visited the scene of destruction and 

 found the injury widespread and serious, ex- 

 tending over eight of the northern counties. 

 Hundreds of acres of grass presented a 

 brown appearance, as if winter-killed. A 

 pasture lot of ten acres, which ten days 

 days before, offered a good pasture, was 

 so thoroughly destroyed that in many places 

 not a blade of gniss could be .leen to the 

 square yard. The upland pastures were 

 first attacked and the entire fields were laid 

 waste in ten or twelve days. Unlike the army 

 worm, the caterpillars were seldom seen, and 

 never observed actively feeding,aiid it was be- 

 lieved by the farmei-s that they fed at night, 

 or, by drawing the blades of grass into their 

 subterranean retreats. In two instances the 

 larvje were observed in immense numbers col- 

 lected on the trunks of trees so that they 

 could have been scooiied up by handfuls. The 



cause of their congregating at these points 

 could not be conjectured; it was not for feed- 

 ing on the foliage, for the grasses alone are 

 their natural food. The caterpillars were slen- 

 der, cylindrical worms, about three-quarters 

 of an inch long; of an obscure, greenish color, 

 with shining black heads. They were desti- 

 tute of lines or other ornamenUition e.xcept- 

 ing some small warty spots on their upper 

 side. Early in August the moths began to 

 appear,wheu they were identified asspecimens 

 of Crambuavuhjivwjellus, the new enemy prov- 

 ing to be an inconspicuous and hitherto inob- 

 trusive little Crambus. It is quite probable 

 that several accounts of injuries to pasture 

 landM in the New England States during the 

 last three or four years by some unknown 

 depredator, are to be credited to this species. 



At a late meeting of our Entomological 

 Society, held in London, one of our members, 

 Mr. J. M. Denton, referred to the injuries 

 which were at that time being inflicted on 

 some pasture lauds within a few miles of 

 London by the larva of the common May bug, 

 Larhnostcrna fusca, and exhibited specimens 

 of their work. He had found whole fields of 

 pasture land with the roots of the grass so 

 eaten that the turf could be readily lifted 

 with the hand by the yard, and underneath 

 were thousands of these grubs feeding on the 

 remaining fragments of roots. In one in- 

 stance, near the village of Delaware, a field 

 had been so completely destroyed that the 

 farmer had set fire to the withered grass with 

 the hope of scorching the enemy to death. 

 As these larvie readily burrow in the ground 

 when disturbed, he was advised to adopt a 

 different method and turn his hogs into the 

 field to root amoflgst the grass and devour 

 the larv:«, which they greedily consume in 

 immense nmnbers. Such wholesale destruc- 

 tion by this insect is not common, but when 

 it does occur it is very alarming. 



In the tenth annual report of the State 

 Entomologist of Illinois just received, men- 

 tion is made of a new insect injurious to corn. 

 This is a small beetle closely allied to the 

 common striped cucumber beetle, and known 

 to entomologists under the name of Diahrotica 

 longkornis. In Illinois the damage caused 

 by the larva of this insect has been consider- 

 able. They are small white worms about half 

 an inch long and very slender, which attack 

 the fibrous roots of the corn, and so destroy 

 them that the plants may be pulled up very 

 easily with the hand. After a time the plants 

 begin to wither and the grain fails to mature. 

 In some instances it is believed that the in- 

 jury would result in the loss of fully one-third 

 of tlie crop. The perfect beetle is about one- 

 fifth of an inch long, with a width scarcely 

 equal to half its length, and of a pale, dull 

 greenish yellow color without spots or stripes. 



The general alarm which prevailed several 

 years ago in reference to the Colorado potato 

 beetle seems now to have to a great extent 

 subsided, and notwithstanding that the in- 

 sect has been very abundant in some .sections 

 it has not been so generally injurious, and 

 where it has appeared in abundance prompt 

 remedial measures have been successfully em- 

 ployed. It has been claimed, and, I suppose, 

 correctly so, that this pest originally came 

 from the canons in the Rocky Mountains, in 

 the State of Colorado, where it is said to have 



