﻿CHAPTER 
  VI, 
  

  

  THE 
  AEMY 
  WORM 
  (Leucania 
  unipmicta 
  Ilaw.). 
  

  

  [Plates 
  I 
  aDd 
  11. 
  ] 
  

  

  NOMENCLATURE. 
  

  

  There 
  is 
  perhaps 
  on 
  this 
  side 
  of 
  the 
  Atlantic 
  no 
  more 
  familiar 
  insect 
  

   name 
  than 
  that 
  of 
  Army 
  Worm. 
  Unfortunately, 
  however, 
  this 
  name 
  is- 
  

   as 
  comprehensive 
  as 
  are 
  most 
  popular 
  names, 
  and, 
  as 
  used 
  by 
  different 
  

   people, 
  in 
  different 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  country, 
  may 
  refer 
  to 
  entirely 
  different 
  

   insects. 
  In 
  fact, 
  in 
  but 
  few 
  other 
  cases 
  is 
  this 
  bane 
  of 
  popular 
  ento- 
  

   mology 
  — 
  the 
  application 
  of 
  a 
  limited 
  number 
  of 
  popular 
  names 
  to 
  an 
  

   almost 
  unlimited 
  number 
  of 
  insects 
  — 
  better 
  exemplified 
  than 
  here. 
  

  

  Years 
  ago 
  some 
  unwise 
  iudividual 
  applied 
  the 
  title 
  Army 
  Worm 
  to 
  the 
  

   southern 
  Cotton 
  Worm 
  (Aletia 
  xyliyia,, 
  Say). 
  Glover 
  adopted 
  the 
  title, 
  

   prefixing, 
  however, 
  the 
  word 
  cotton; 
  but 
  it 
  has 
  occasioned 
  confusion 
  

   ever 
  siuce. 
  For 
  instance, 
  there 
  appeared 
  in 
  the 
  columns 
  of 
  one 
  of 
  our 
  

   prominent 
  agricultural 
  periodicals, 
  during 
  the 
  disastrous 
  Army 
  Worm 
  

   year 
  of 
  18G1, 
  an 
  article, 
  couched 
  in 
  pseudo-scientific 
  language, 
  stating 
  

   that 
  the 
  insect 
  ravaging 
  the 
  New 
  England 
  fields 
  was 
  the 
  Anomisxylina 
  

   of 
  Say, 
  quoting 
  from 
  a 
  Louisiana 
  paper 
  an 
  account 
  of 
  its 
  work 
  in 
  the 
  

   southern 
  cotton 
  -fields, 
  and 
  following 
  with 
  an 
  article 
  from 
  some 
  western 
  

   periodical 
  describing 
  its 
  injuries 
  in 
  the 
  wheat-fields 
  of 
  the 
  Northwests 
  

  

  Another 
  southern 
  insect, 
  the 
  Grass 
  Worm 
  {Lajjhygma 
  frugiperda, 
  Sm.. 
  

   & 
  Abb.), 
  has 
  been 
  dubbed 
  "the 
  Army 
  Worm" 
  by 
  southern 
  i^eople, 
  and 
  

   this 
  name 
  for 
  this 
  species 
  was 
  adopted 
  by 
  Lyman 
  in 
  his 
  Cotton 
  Culture^ 
  

   and 
  by 
  others 
  5 
  hence 
  a 
  confusion 
  between 
  these 
  two 
  insects 
  also 
  has 
  

   always 
  existed, 
  though 
  here 
  the 
  mistake 
  is 
  more 
  excusable, 
  owing 
  to 
  their 
  

   great 
  resemblance 
  in 
  the 
  larva 
  state, 
  both 
  in 
  appearance 
  and 
  habit. 
  

  

  The 
  Tent 
  caterpillar 
  of 
  the 
  forest 
  (Clisioeamjm 
  silvatica 
  Harr.) 
  often 
  

   appears 
  in 
  extraordinary 
  numbers, 
  especially 
  in 
  the 
  Southern 
  States, 
  

   where 
  large 
  stretches 
  of 
  oak 
  forest 
  are 
  sometimes 
  defoliated 
  by 
  it, 
  and 
  

   when 
  migrating 
  in 
  search 
  of 
  suitable 
  places 
  to 
  spin 
  up, 
  or 
  when 
  seeking 
  

   further 
  food, 
  it 
  has 
  been 
  called 
  " 
  the 
  Army 
  Worm." 
  We 
  have 
  previously 
  

   cited 
  ^^ 
  its 
  appearance 
  near 
  Memphis 
  in 
  1872, 
  when 
  it 
  frequently 
  sto])ped 
  

   the 
  trains 
  going 
  in 
  and 
  out 
  of 
  the 
  city. 
  It 
  stripped 
  orchards, 
  and 
  great 
  

   lanes 
  of 
  bare 
  trees 
  marked 
  its 
  track 
  through 
  the 
  woods. 
  

  

  At 
  a 
  meeting 
  of 
  the 
  Western 
  New 
  York 
  Fruit-Growers' 
  Association, 
  

   in 
  1861, 
  there 
  was 
  a 
  learned 
  discussion 
  of 
  the 
  ''Army 
  Worm" 
  and 
  the 
  

  

  29 
  8tb 
  Missouri 
  Entomological 
  Eei)ort, 
  p. 
  23. 
  

  

  89 
  

  

  