1923 ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 21 



It was found that in the field they do not begin to move freely until about 

 9 p.m., although a few will commence to move just after dusk. In cages they 

 would commence to flutter between 8.30 and 9 p.m. every night. 



The few records kept in 1922 regarding the flight habits confirmed those 

 of 1921 and nothing new was found out. The moths fly into a slight wind and 

 with a high wind, although they will always try to battle against it at first. 

 When there is no wind, they are liable to soar up above the tops of the tallest 

 trees near-by and may then go in any direction. 



When engaged in egg laying at night, the moths hover about three feet 

 above ground, and take no notice of bright light. In 1921, a 300 candle power 

 lantern was used to try and attract them but only a few males were taken, and 

 those arrived at great speed. 



Having tried in 1921 to attract moths at night with brilliant lights of several 

 colours, the Strickland liquid poison bait of quassia, arsenic and molasses was 

 tried this season, with exactly the same negative results that attended the light 

 experiments. An effort was made on several occasions to attract male moths 

 to females confined in a trap of the lobster pot type, into which males could 

 enter but from which the females could not escape, but without any success. 



During the day both sexes rest in the thickest clumps of corn, and in instances 

 where they occur in oat fields sown on the previous year's corn stubble, they 

 may be found most easily in the tallest, darkest oats. At the maximum period 

 of their emergence, they may be found generally distributed over any field of 

 evenly growing corn except in the first few yards around the edges, where they 

 are seldom found. 



Egg-laying. It was found from observations on moths kept in square 

 paper cages in the laboratory, that eggs are laid rather late at night chiefly 

 on the sides of the cases; in a few instances only, were eggs laid before 11 o'clock. 

 Moths oviposit freely on corn or other leaves inserted into the cages, but they 

 seem to lay just as freely on the paper. The number of eggs laid per night was 

 about the same in 1922 as in 1921, in masses of from 1, 3, 8 or 12, to about 60 

 eggs per mass. In the field the average egg mass contains between 20 to 30 eggs. 



As far as our field counts show, moths seem to lay equally freely on flint 

 corn and on dent. The difference that exists between the respective larval in- 

 festations per stalk of these varieties, must be attributed to some other factor 

 than preference during oviposition. In the earlier part of the season the finding 

 of eggs coincides with the finding of moths, and the latter occur most commonly 

 on the tallest corn or thickest clumps. In a rolling field, the tops of the knolls 

 are laid on first, even though the corn in the hollows may be nearly twice as 

 tall as that on the knolls. Later in the season, however, eggs may be found equally 

 all over a field. Curious exceptions to this have been found. In one case the 

 eggs were laid in one end of a field first, then in the opposite end and finally in 

 the centre. The larval infestation in September in this field, was greatest in 

 the centre. In another instance eggs occurred first in a field in the side farthest 

 from the source of infestation, and then equally all over. In 1921, in one field, 

 the infestation remained throughout the season on the south side of the field 

 only, close to a wood; the rest of the field was only very slightly infested. 



Moths lay at all heights from the ground, from 13^ inches up to 4 feet. 

 However, if tall and short stems occur side by side, they lay on the tall stems 

 first, although they may lay very low down on them. The under side of the 

 crown of leaves is the favorite laying place, though this year (1922) eggs were 

 frequently found on the upper surface of the leaves. These eggs failed to hatch, 

 although in some of them the embryos nearly reached maturity before being 

 killed by the sun. 



