57 



(3) Spodoptera mauritia Boisd. 



This moth occurs commonly in these islands, in fact at one 

 time was a serious pest. Mr. Perkins says that their numbers 

 were greatly reduced after the introduction of the Mynah birds, 

 these birds feeding largely upon the caterpillars. The species 

 occurs also in Mauritius, West Africa, Southern Asia, and 

 thruout Oriental and Australian regions. 



The caterpillars feed upon grasses, and I have found them on 

 young sweet corn and peas, also on a sedge {Cyperus rotundus), 

 commonly called "bulb grass" or "nut grass," which is a 

 troublesome weed in lawns and gardens. At the Experiment 

 Station of the Hawaiian Sugar Planter's Association, they were 

 found feeding on very young sugar cane seedlings during January 

 and February, 1906. They were first discovered on January 3d, 

 when a few. of the tiny green larvae were found on very small 

 cane seedlings in propogating boxes. A few of these larvae were 

 found each day for several days thereafter; on one day (Jan. 10), 

 twenty-five were found. Although very small, the cane plants 

 were also very small (one to two inches in height), and if a 

 larva had fed for two or three days upon a plant before discov- 

 ery, the plant was nearly destroyed; so that quite a little trouble 

 and some loss was caused by these caterpillars during the months 

 mentioned. Usually not more than one caterpillar would be 

 found on a plant, but occasionally as many as four were found. 

 Being green, and so small, they were most easily detected by 

 first seeing the partially dead leaf where they had eaten, as they 

 began near the apex of the leaf and continued downwards, eating 

 the mesophyll and leaving the opposite epidermis. On being 

 disturbed they dropped to the ground by a fine silken fiber, and 

 curled up. Several of the caterpillars were reared to maturity. 



Life History. — The eggs of this moth are spherical, vertically 

 striated, and laid in clusters on the surface of some object. They 

 are usually in one layer and in regular rows, and covered by a 

 few hairs from the body of the moth ; 100 to 300 eggs per cluster. 

 I have found them on leaves of banana and oleander at a distance 

 of five feet from the ground. At the H. S. P. A. Experiment 

 Station a large number of egg clusters have been observed on the 

 outside of the insectaries, one as high as ten feet from the ground. 

 A hatched cluster was found in a shed where the boxes of cane 



