FIELD CROP INSECTS 253 



tion of the fall wheat comes from the stubble it is important 

 to disk the stubble immediately after harvest and three or 

 four weeks later plow the land at least six inches deep, so 

 that all stubble and volunteer wheat will be well buried. 

 The land should then be refirmed and worked into a good 

 seed bed, keeping it mellow and free from volunteer wheat. 

 The importance of the best possible preparation of the land 

 and the destruction of volunteer wheat cannot be over- 

 emphasized. 



142. The Corn Earworm or Cotton Bollworm * (18). 

 This is practically the only insect seriously injuring the ears 

 of field corn. In the South it is so abundant on sugar corn 

 as to make it very difficult to secure uninjured ears, and in 

 the Middle States it greatly reduces the profit in growing 

 corn for the cannery. In the South it bores into the half- 

 formed cotton bolls, often materially reducing the crop, and 

 is, therefore, known as the Cotton Bollworm. In tomato- 

 growing sections it is called the Tomato Fruitworm, from its 

 habit of eating into the green fruits and in tobacco regions 

 it is the Tobacco Budworm on account of its injury by boring 

 into the buds and seed-pods. Numerous other crops such 

 as beans, peas, and many garden and forage crops are also 

 attacked. 



The moths have a wing expanse of about If inches and 

 are quite variable in color and markings. Some are dull 

 olive-green while others are yellowish and with almost no 

 markings. Typically the wings are bordered with dark 

 bands, the wing-veins are black and the fore wings are 

 spotted with black. In the Gulf States the moths appear in 

 April and in the Middle States early in June. The eggs of 

 the first generation are laid on corn, peas, beans, or whatever 

 food-plants are available and hatch in from three to five 

 * Hcliothis obsolete Fab. Family Noctuidcc. 



