INSKCTS INJURIOUS TO THE GRAINS AND GRASSES. 81 



is untouched, but even that is not always exempt. In 

 from three to four weeks the worms become mature and 

 are then about one and one-half inches long, of a dark-gray 

 or dingy-black color, with three narrow, yellowish stripes 

 above, and a slightly broader and darker one on each side, 

 altogether much resembling cutworms, to which they are 

 nearly allied. They now enter the earth and there trans- 

 form to pnpae, from which the adulb moths come forth in 

 about two weeks. These again lay eggs for a brood of 

 worms which appear in September, but are rarely very 

 injurious. The moths developing from this last brood 

 either hibernate over winter or deposit eggs, the lar^^as 

 from which become partially grown before cold weather 

 sets in. 



•The moths very often fly in windows to lights, and are 

 very plain little " millers "' The front wings are of a clay 

 or fawn color, specked with black scales, marked with a 

 darker shade or stripe at the tips, and a distinct white 

 spot at the centre — on account of which they were given 

 the specific name unipundii. The hind wings are some- 

 what lighter, with blackish veins and darker margins. 



Enemies. — Were it not for other insects which prey 

 upon the worm^, the army habit would undoubtedly be 

 assumed much more often; but ordinarily these very 

 efficiently reduce their number, and Dr. L. 0, Howard 

 has recorded two instances in w^hich armies of w^orms were 

 practically destroyed by them. Large numbers are always 

 destroyed by the predaceous ground-beetles and their 

 larvse, but their most deadly enemies are two small 

 Tachina-flies. These lay from half a dozen to fifty eggs 

 upon a worm, and the maggots from them enter the body 

 of the worm and there absorb its juices and tissues, thus 



