328 



THE AMERICAN. 



vi lie and bury themselves a short distauce in tlie 

 earth, where, after each forming a little earthen 

 eell (Fig. 204, c), thej' change to pnpns of a deep 

 dull yellow color, andinahout three weeks more 

 i.sFuc as beetles. These beetles leave the ground 

 fi-om the middle of June to the middle of July, 

 and, so far as we are aware, do not breed again 

 (ill the following spring — there being but one 

 brood each year. They subsist on the leaves 

 during the fall, but the damage they inflict is 

 li-ifling compared to tliat which they cause in 

 s])ring. 



Like all other Flca-bectles, this species has 

 very stout, swollen hind thighs, which, though 

 CFig. 20!.] hidden in our Figure 204, d, are well 

 represented in the accompanying 

 cut (Fig. 20.5) . By means of these 

 f strong thighs they are enabled to 

 jump about very energetically, 

 and are consequently very difficult 

 to manage during the summer 

 months. In the winter time, however, they 

 can be destroyed iu great numbers while hid- 

 den in a torpid state in their retreats. Clean 

 culture and general cleanliness in a vineyard 

 will, to a great extent, prevent this insect's in- 

 crease. Dr. Hull, of Alton, Ills., tells us* that 

 they were once so numei'ous in a small vineyard 

 of his, that in the spring of 18G7 he burnt them 

 out by surrounding tliem with fire, and letting 

 the fire run tlirough the dry grass iu the vine- 

 yard. " U was a rough remedy, but as his crop 

 was destroyed, he let the beetles follow suit." 



The larvas can be more easily destroyed by an 

 application of dry lime, used with a common 

 sand-blower or bellows. This has been found 

 to be more effectnal than either lye or soap-suds, 

 and is withal the safest, as lye, if used too strong, 

 will injure the leaves. 



This insect, like so many others, will one year 

 swarm prodigiously, and then again be scarcely 

 noticed ; and such changes iu its numbers de- 

 pend mainly on conditions of the weather, as 

 vvc know of no parasite which attacks it. In the 

 spring of 18G8, though they were at flrst out in 

 full force, yet after some subsequent severe and 

 cold weather, they had mostly disappeared. 

 They are apt to be most troublesome where 

 Alder abounds iu the woods. 



oriiiint uiifl mnvf clcinsatecl tliun the VRst, l)eing appaveiitly 

 cimi|>"s't'il "11 wo i-iinllrn'Mt oiu's, us it g'ivi'H vise to two hull's . 

 'I'lim' Vl'litral spots, "li.- anirriorly , whicli is lar-u, tvans- 

 VL-i-srlv-cl'inn-ate, (M-nliMl aii.l wilho.il liairs; an.l I w.i pcjstrri- 

 „vlv (niif <-ac,h si. 1.0 whi.-l. aiv small an.l |.ilifcr.ais. Six 

 l.lacic tli..ra..-ac k-RS, an.l ..l,.' anal ..ran-e pvlrs. 



/'«uo— L.'iiiflli.illl in.'li N.iniialilirys.iin.'lnl i„tm. l)f.-p 

 .lull yellow, and cv.'iv.l ni..r.- .ir l.'S- al...ve will. sl„„1 l,la<-lc 

 bi-istles an-ail-eil in a Iralisv.-rs.- j',,w a.a.iss ea.-li j.niit, anil 

 each avisiiif I'nim a a\v^\\1 elevation ; two slonler anal bristles 

 01- thorns. Eyes brown. Tips of jaws Ijrown. 



»Proc. Allan Hort. Soc. for May, ISUT^ 



TIIEPALL ARMY WORM. _,-' 



From many parts of Missouri and Illinois, 

 complaints reach us of the ravages of the " Fall 

 Armj'-worm." We have received specimens 

 from Moniteau, JeiTerson, St. Louis, Pulaski 

 and Cole counties in Missouri, and accounts of 

 its injuries reach us almost every day from the 

 northeaslern portion of the State. "What is this 

 "Fall Army- worm?" will be anxiously asked 

 by the entomological reader; but we doubt 

 whether there is yet any one in this wide world 

 who can tell with any degree of assurance. We 

 can say, that it is a 

 dark worm, the larva 

 of some species of 

 Owlet Moth, and very 

 closely allied to the 

 true Army-worm 

 [Leucania unipuncta^ 

 Haw.), but more than 

 this we do not at pre- 

 sent know, for the 

 insect has never been 

 traced through its 

 transformations. In 

 the fall of 1.SC8 we 

 received a few speci- 

 mens from Mr. T. U. Allen, with an account of 

 their injuring newly sown wheat on oat stubble. 

 On page 88 of our First Missouri Report we 

 briefly described it, under the name of " Wheat 

 Cut-worm ;" but we failed to raise the perfect 

 insect, and, unless the moths issue this fall, we 

 must wait till the spring of 1S71 before we can 

 connect this worm with its parent. In July, 

 1.SG8, we received from Mr. E. Daggy, of Tus- 

 cola, Illinois, specimens of a worm which was 

 injuring his corn, and we then replied through 

 tlic colums of tiie rrairie Fanner that it was a 

 new species. Subsequently Mr. Walsh also «c- 

 ceived specimens of the same worm, and during 

 the latter part of July we both of us bred the 

 moth, which proved to be a new and very vari- 

 able species of Proffe^iia, and which we deter- 

 mined to call Dayriiji:* The Fall Army-worm 

 agrees so well with that which Mr. Daggy sent 

 us, that, in all probability, it will prove to be 

 the same species ; but as it is so variable, wc 

 can only conjecture till we succeed in obtaining 

 the perfect insect. 



The popular term of " Fall Army-worm " is 

 altogether more indicative than that of " Wheat 

 Cut-worm," since the spc(!ies docs not contine 

 its attacks to wheat, and not only very closely 



"See p. 43 of this volume. 



