﻿ARMY 
  WORM: 
  SUDDEN 
  APPEARANCE 
  AND 
  DISAPPEARANCE. 
  115 
  

  

  it 
  sufificiently 
  wet 
  everywhere 
  to 
  suit 
  tlieir 
  semi-aquatic 
  habits. 
  Thus 
  going 
  forth 
  in 
  

   companies, 
  they 
  alighted 
  in 
  particular 
  spots, 
  and 
  there 
  dropped 
  their 
  eggs; 
  and 
  the 
  

   result 
  is 
  sufficiently 
  well 
  known. 
  

  

  More 
  briefly 
  expressed 
  my 
  view 
  is 
  this 
  — 
  a 
  dry 
  season 
  and 
  dry 
  swamps 
  multiplies 
  this 
  

   insect. 
  And 
  when 
  it 
  is 
  thus 
  multiplied, 
  a 
  wet 
  season 
  and 
  overflowed 
  swamps 
  drives 
  

   it 
  out 
  from 
  its 
  lurking-place, 
  in 
  flocks, 
  alighting 
  here 
  and 
  there 
  over 
  the 
  country. 
  But 
  

   on 
  being 
  thus 
  rusticated, 
  it 
  finds 
  our 
  arable 
  lands 
  too 
  dry 
  for 
  it; 
  and 
  immediately 
  on 
  

   maturing 
  and 
  getting 
  its 
  wings 
  again, 
  it 
  flies 
  back 
  to 
  the 
  swamps, 
  whereby 
  it 
  happens 
  

   that 
  we 
  see 
  no 
  more 
  of 
  it. 
  

  

  Dr. 
  Fitch 
  starts, 
  in 
  the 
  first 
  place, 
  with 
  the 
  supposition 
  that 
  the 
  natural 
  

   food 
  of 
  the 
  Army 
  Worm 
  is 
  the 
  coarse, 
  wild 
  grass 
  of 
  the 
  swamps 
  and 
  

   bogs, 
  and 
  that 
  here, 
  and 
  here 
  only, 
  is 
  it 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  interim 
  between 
  

   "worm 
  years." 
  It 
  is 
  only 
  necessary, 
  in 
  order 
  to 
  disprove 
  this, 
  to 
  search 
  

   diligently 
  in 
  spring 
  among 
  the 
  tufts 
  of 
  grass 
  upon 
  knolls 
  and 
  hill-sides 
  

   as 
  well 
  as 
  along 
  marshes, 
  around 
  the 
  borders 
  of 
  grain 
  fields, 
  and 
  even 
  

   in 
  the 
  grain 
  fields 
  themselves. 
  Army 
  Worms 
  will 
  almost 
  certainly 
  be 
  

   found 
  in 
  all 
  these 
  localities. 
  The 
  species 
  probably 
  does 
  flourish 
  to 
  a 
  

   somewhat 
  greater 
  extent 
  around 
  swamps, 
  but 
  it 
  is 
  for 
  the 
  reason 
  that 
  

   the 
  grass 
  in 
  such 
  localities 
  is 
  not 
  so 
  apt 
  to 
  be 
  grazed 
  closely 
  or 
  cut. 
  More- 
  

   over, 
  the 
  parent 
  moth 
  very 
  probably 
  gets 
  more 
  appropriate 
  food 
  in 
  such 
  

   places, 
  either 
  in 
  saccharineexudations, 
  the 
  natural 
  "sweat" 
  of 
  the 
  plants, 
  

   or 
  in 
  the 
  moisture 
  from 
  the 
  ground. 
  

  

  Moreover, 
  an 
  examination 
  of 
  the 
  weather 
  records 
  shows 
  us 
  that 
  while 
  

   the 
  years 
  preceding 
  Army 
  Worm 
  years 
  have 
  been 
  universally 
  charac- 
  

   terized 
  by 
  drought, 
  the 
  years 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  worms 
  have 
  actually 
  appeared 
  

   have 
  not 
  necessarily 
  been 
  wet, 
  — 
  a 
  fact 
  which 
  in 
  itself 
  is 
  a 
  death-blow 
  to 
  

   the 
  theory. 
  In 
  support 
  of 
  this 
  fact 
  we 
  made 
  use 
  of 
  the 
  following 
  argu- 
  

   ments 
  in 
  the 
  American 
  Entomologist 
  for 
  September, 
  1880: 
  

  

  That 
  the 
  Army 
  Worm 
  appears 
  in 
  destructive 
  numbers 
  after 
  a 
  period 
  of 
  dry 
  seasons 
  

   is 
  a 
  fact 
  already 
  recognized, 
  and 
  is 
  in 
  accordance 
  with 
  the 
  experience 
  of 
  the 
  present 
  

   year. 
  The 
  portions 
  of 
  our 
  country 
  visited 
  by 
  the 
  worm 
  this 
  year 
  were 
  afflicted 
  with 
  

   drought 
  last 
  summer, 
  and 
  the 
  winter 
  was 
  remarkable 
  for 
  its 
  mildness 
  and 
  the 
  slight 
  

   fall 
  of 
  snow. 
  Fitch's 
  theory 
  of 
  the 
  appearance 
  of 
  the 
  worm 
  required 
  that 
  this 
  spring 
  

   should 
  be 
  a 
  wet 
  one 
  in 
  order 
  to 
  drive 
  the 
  moths 
  from 
  the 
  swamps 
  and 
  cause 
  them 
  

   to 
  lay 
  their 
  eggs 
  on 
  the 
  uj)land. 
  But 
  the 
  facts 
  are 
  just 
  the 
  reverse. 
  Farmers 
  from 
  

   Virginia 
  to 
  Vermont 
  have 
  complained 
  loudly 
  of 
  the 
  excessive 
  drought. 
  Rivers 
  in 
  some 
  

   of 
  the 
  Atlantic 
  States 
  have 
  not 
  been 
  so 
  low 
  for 
  a 
  generation, 
  and 
  alluvial 
  meadows 
  

   which 
  have 
  been 
  subject 
  to 
  a 
  spring 
  flooding, 
  have 
  this 
  year 
  remained 
  dry. 
  These 
  

   facts 
  clearly 
  disprove 
  Fitch's 
  theory, 
  and 
  we 
  must 
  believe 
  that 
  the 
  Army 
  Worm 
  is 
  most 
  

   likely 
  to 
  appear 
  after 
  dry 
  seasons, 
  regardless 
  of 
  the 
  wetness 
  or 
  dryness 
  of 
  the 
  season 
  

   in 
  which 
  it 
  occurs. 
  A 
  critical 
  examination 
  of 
  Fitch's 
  arguments 
  in 
  support 
  of 
  his 
  

   theory 
  shows 
  tbat 
  he 
  not 
  only 
  had 
  no 
  personal 
  acquaintance 
  with 
  the 
  worm, 
  but 
  also 
  

   made 
  some 
  false 
  meteorological 
  deductions, 
  such 
  as 
  comparing 
  the 
  rainfall 
  of 
  India 
  (?) 
  

   with 
  the 
  appearance 
  of 
  the 
  worm 
  here. 
  With 
  equal 
  reason 
  might 
  we 
  argue 
  that 
  1879 
  

   was 
  wet 
  iu 
  our 
  Atlantic 
  States 
  because 
  of 
  the 
  excessive 
  precipitation 
  in 
  the 
  British 
  

   Islands 
  during 
  tbat 
  year. 
  It 
  is 
  evident 
  that 
  Fitch 
  was 
  hard 
  pressed 
  for 
  arguments 
  to 
  

   support 
  the 
  theory. 
  That 
  the 
  season 
  of 
  1861 
  was 
  remarkably 
  wet 
  in 
  the 
  Eastern 
  

   States, 
  Fitch 
  gives 
  no 
  evidence, 
  and 
  while 
  the 
  mean 
  rainfall, 
  according 
  to 
  statistics 
  

   was 
  greater 
  in 
  1861 
  than 
  in 
  1860, 
  it 
  does 
  not 
  follow 
  that 
  the 
  spring 
  and 
  early 
  summer 
  

   of 
  1861 
  were, 
  on 
  that 
  account, 
  unusually 
  wet. 
  From 
  the 
  well 
  known 
  connection 
  of 
  

  

  