220 BULLETIN NO. 62. 



would be extensive and need not be mentioned but the ability of the 

 species to subsist a large variety of plants indicates its destructive 

 nature. 



INJURIES TO CORN. 



The injuries to corn by this species have at times been enor- 

 mous. Entire fields of corn are sometimes destroyed by it. In i860 

 in Kansas, during a protracted drought the corn crop was nearly des- 

 tioyed. In a single county the yield of corn was cut down from 

 436,000 bushels the previous year, to 5000 bushels. Mr. C. V. Riley, 

 writing in the Fourth Report of the U. S. Entomological Commis- 

 sion made the following statements: "During the past three sea- 

 sons, 1881, 1882, and 1883 the damage to corn has been especially 

 marked all through the South and West. It has been a common 

 sight to meet with fields in Virginia and southward in which almost 

 every ear was pierced, while letters from Illinois and other Western 

 states complained bitterly of the damage done." 



It seems probable that through the acclimation work with corn 

 to be undertaken in the State the coming season we may eventually 

 raise much more corn in some of the warmer valleys than has been 

 believed. From time to time, we may expect this insect to appear 

 and do more or less injury. In the fields of sweet corn in Yellow- 

 stone county last summer its injuries were so prominent that it may 

 be accounted a pest of first importance. While some ears had only 

 a single worm in each, many contained several. 



DESCRIPTION AND HABIBTS. 



The caterpillars vary greatly in color and prominence of mark- 

 ings. The body is almost cylindrical but tapers slightly towards 

 the head. Prominent longitudinal stripes occur on the body the 

 color of the stripes being darker shades of the same colors that occur 

 between thew. Some caterpillars are distinctly green in general cast, 

 while others are distinctly dark brown but there is every gradua- 

 tion Lciwccn these extremes. The darker s[)ec:mens liavc on each 

 side a narrow yellow stripe in which the spiricles, or breathing pores, 

 occur ;;i- ipJ'ntv conspicuous, though small, spors of bkiCK. A few 

 scattering short hairs arise each from a black tubercle. The full- 

 giown cat-;ip..'lar measures nearly an inch anrl .v ([uarti:-: in length. 



