INSECTS IXJURIOrS TO TOBACCO. 



215 



severe where a crop of grass or clover has been turned 

 under as a soil crop in the spring and there furnishes a 

 good su23pl3" of food for the cutworms till the tobacco is 

 set out. Not only is this replanting expensive and tedious 

 itself, but it makes the crop mature unevenly and thus 

 entails unnecessary expense in handling. 



Descriptimi and Life-history. — Under the general term 

 '^cutworms" we commonly designate the larvae of several 

 species of moths, which are very similar in general apj^ear- 

 ance and habits. Both the moths and larv» are readily 



Fig. 121. — Greasy Cutworm {Agrotis ypsilon), one of the Tobacco 

 Cutworms, a, larva; h, head of same; c, adult — natural size. 

 (After Howard, U. S. Dept. Agr. ) 



distinguished by one familiar with them. Though the 

 life-histories of the different species vary more or less, still 

 they are so uiuch alike that they may be readily described 

 as a class. Of those attacking tobacco, the Greasy Cut- 

 worm [Agrotis ypsilon) and Granulated Cutworm {Agrotis 

 annexa) are among the most common. The adults of 

 cutworms are moths with dark fore wings, variously 

 marked, which are folded over the back when at rest, and 



