780 REPORT UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 



Ctate of uature or preserved in alcobol. Specimens in all stages Avonld be very welcome. 

 The moth is pale tawny, the hind wings whitish. The fore wings are uniformly pale 

 tawny yellowish, with a small, not very distinct, oval, dark discal dot. Half-way 

 between this and the outer edge of the wing is a row of whitish points, shaded with 

 black within ; fringe, flesb red. Hind wings whitish, blackish on the outer two- 

 thirds, with a white fringe. Expanse of wings, 1.40 to. 1.60 inches. I have received 

 specimens from Mr. Belfrage, of Waco, Tex., taken May 18, June 22, July 29, and Au- 

 gust 6. 



Remedies. — This caterpillar is difficult to manage, as it is hidden most 

 of its life. Hand-picUing, if thoroughly tried, will save much loss. 

 The moths may be trapped by spreading a mixture of vinegar and sugar 

 over foods or in plates, and moth-traps should be liberally used. A 

 moth closely allied to this and which in the caterpillar as well a» 

 moth state maybe easily confounded with the boll-worm, is the so-called 

 l^hlox worm, originally described by Messrs. Grote and Robinson under 

 the name of HcUothis iMoxopliaga. It occurs all over the South and west 

 as far as California and Oregon. Professor Riley, in the Prairie Farmer, 

 states that there are "two broods a year, the first appearing in July 

 and becoming moths by the middle of August, the second passing the 

 (vinter in the chrysalis state. The eggs are deposited singly on all por- 

 tions of the plant, and the caterpillar when about to become a chrysalis 

 enters the ground and interweaves grains of sand with a few silken 

 threads, forming a very slight elastic cocoon." 



Description of the moth. — It is usually a little smaller than H. armUjcra and with a 

 large black discal spot fully twice as large as in that species. A dark tawny band 

 runs from the discal spot to the inner edge of the wing. In front of the discal spot are 

 two dark, small costal spots, and a third much larger, one near the apex. Hind wings 

 with a very large, black lunate discal spot, almost entirely wanting in H. armigera, 

 vvhile as in that species the black border incloses a white spot, usually, however, much 

 better marked than in S. armlgeru. Expanse of wings, 1.00-1.40 inches. 



INSECTS ATTACKING THE TOBACCO-PLANT. 



The Toracco-Worsi, Sphinx fy-maciilata Haworth. — Devouring the leaves ; a large 

 green caterpillar as thick as one's little linger, with a stiif horn on the end of its body^ 

 and changing to a chrysalis in the earth, the moth flying in June to September. 



About the only serious enemies of the tobacco-plant are the two 

 species of Sphinx moths, MacrosiJa Carolina Linn., and Macrosila 5- 

 maculata, or the Carolina and five-spotted hawk-moth. The Carolina 

 worm is confiued to the Middle and Southern States, while the cater- 

 pillar of the five-spotted hawk-moth occurs in the Northern and Western 

 States, as well as the Sotithern. I have received M. o-inaculata from 

 Salt Lake City, through Mr. Joseph L. Barfoot, curator of the Salt Lake 

 museum. 



So far as my personal knowledge extends, the tobacco- worm is inju- 

 rious to the tobacco-crop of the Connecticut Valley in Connecticut and 

 Western Massachusetts, and is only kept under by watchfulness, being 

 picked off by hand. In the Middle States, for example Tennessee, the 

 ravages of the "tobacco- worm," as stated by the Scientific Farmer, 

 which may refer either to this insect or the Carolina sphinx, is a great 

 hinderauce to the successful cultivation of tobacco in Tennessee. " But," 

 adds the editor, " an enemy to it has appeared in the person of an ich- 

 neumon-fly, which destroys the worms in large numbers. It is thought 

 if this ichneumon keeps at its work, that certain lands will possess a 

 high value for the cultivation of tobacco." The accompanying cut (Fig. 

 48) represents an ichneumon-parasite, a species of Microgaster, bred by 



