CUT-WOEMS. 



9 



In some of the species — "in Mamestra trifolii (Rott.) and 

 others, the life-history, as above 

 given, differs, in that the hiber- 

 nation is not in the larval stage, 

 but as a pupa. The larvae com- 

 plete their growth in the autumn 

 and enter upon the pupal stage 

 in October and November. The 

 moths of these species are those 

 which are the first to appear 

 abroad in the spring. [Mamestra 

 ■trifolii is illustrated in Fig. 12, 

 in three of its stages.] 



Conditions Favorable to Cut- 

 worms. 

 The abundance of cut-worms 

 is not dependent upon, or mate- 

 rially influenced by, the charac- FlG - 12 -~ Mamestra trifolii ; a and b, the 



„ , ., m , , Clover Cut-worm;, c, pupa; d, moth; e, en- 



ter Of the SOll. I hey are known large d wing of the same; /, anal segment 



to occur alike in gravelly soil, in of the p u p & - 



loam, in clay, in sand, upon uplands and in alluvial bottoms. 

 Their number does not appear to be increased by a high degree 

 of fertility, for a cold and sterile location serves them as well, so 

 long as it provides them with the requisite food-supply. Dr. Fitch 

 states that he never found them more plenty than on one occasion 

 among beans planted upon a hill-side, so barren that it was thought 

 nothing else could be raised thereon. Nor does the kind of manure 

 applied to the land seem to have any influence, except as it induces 

 a more succulent plant-growth. A writer states, that he finds them 

 more numerous on dry rolling ground. That this may not be 

 accepted as the rule, appears from the statement of another, who 

 says, " it has been observed that they damage crops more espe- 

 cially on wet lands," and he therefore recommends draining as a 

 remedy. 



With some of our insect pests, soil-conditions and character have 

 much to do. Thus, we have recent evidence to lead us to believe 

 that the rose-bug, Macrodactylus subspinosus breeds in wet, 

 sandy land, and that a clayey soil is almost a preventive of its 

 ravages. But with the ubiquitous cut-worm the soil is a matter 

 of indifference — the vegetation that it bears, all-important. The 

 2 



