202 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO STAPLE CROPS. 



tassels of corn. If hatched on the cotton-plant, the worms 

 attack the young buds or bolls, rapidly destroying them. 



Tlie young worms resemble the cotton-worms, and walk 

 like the familiar measuring- worms, but are darker in color. 

 With age the w^orms exhibit great variety in appearance, 

 from light green to dark brown or rose, and may be either 

 striped or spotted or perfectly plain. 



The life of the insect from egg to adult averages about 

 thirty -eight days, and there are usually five generations 

 each year. The worms of the first brood, as a rule, appear 

 about the first of May, and feed almost entirely upon the 

 young leaves and buds of the corn; the second brood, 

 appearing in early June, eat the tassels and forming ears 

 of corn; the third brood, in July, attack the hardening 

 ears. The fourth and fifth broods, appearing successively 

 in August and September, appreciate the cotton as food, 

 the corn having become too hard. About the middle of 

 October the worms of the last brood descend into the earth 

 to pupate, which state lasts from one to four weeks. 



Food. — The worm is known by various names according 

 to the plant upon which it feeds, as, for instance, the 

 Cotton Boll -worm, the Corn Ear-worm (see page 151), and 

 the Tomato Fruit-worm. It is also found upon ^^eas, 

 beans, tobacco, pumpkins, squash, and many flowering 

 plants. A strange but mitigating characteristic of this 

 pest is its tendency to feed upon its kind, especially if 

 large numbers are crowded together, thus materially 

 reducing its own numbers. 



Remedies. — Poisoning the young worms by spraying 

 with arsenic was a method formerly used, but as it proved 

 only partially successful, and as another and better method 

 has been discovered, it is now comparativel}'' little used. 



