﻿THE 
  ARMY 
  WORM: 
  HIBERNATION. 
  123 
  

  

  comma 
  (Linn.) 
  winters 
  as 
  a 
  full 
  grown 
  larva, 
  according 
  to 
  Speyer. 
  Quite 
  a 
  large 
  

   proportion 
  of 
  our 
  closely 
  allied 
  cut- 
  worms 
  are, 
  also, 
  known 
  to 
  thus 
  hibernate. 
  It 
  

   would 
  seem, 
  therefore 
  that, 
  in 
  default 
  of 
  direct 
  observation, 
  we 
  have 
  no 
  good 
  reason 
  

   for 
  assuming 
  that 
  the 
  eggs 
  laid 
  in 
  autumn 
  necessarily 
  hibernate 
  as 
  such. 
  But 
  while 
  

   these 
  analogies 
  make 
  it 
  probable 
  that 
  the 
  insect 
  may 
  winter 
  in 
  the 
  larva 
  state, 
  all 
  

   the 
  other 
  facts 
  point 
  to 
  the 
  conclusion 
  that 
  the 
  proportion 
  that 
  so 
  winter, 
  if 
  any, 
  is 
  

   very 
  small. 
  Instead 
  of 
  abounding 
  in 
  a 
  wet 
  spring 
  when 
  their 
  favorite 
  haunts 
  are 
  

   overflowed, 
  they 
  would 
  be 
  well 
  nigh 
  drowned 
  out, 
  on 
  the 
  hypothesis 
  that 
  they 
  had 
  

   been 
  wintering 
  there 
  as 
  larvfe. 
  As 
  bearing 
  on 
  the 
  second 
  question 
  we 
  have 
  certain 
  

   facts 
  which 
  indicate 
  that 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  pupas 
  hibernate, 
  the 
  proportion 
  doubtless 
  increas- 
  

   ing 
  as 
  we 
  go 
  north. 
  I 
  have 
  myself 
  never 
  had 
  any 
  of 
  the 
  worms 
  remain 
  in 
  chrysalis 
  

   through 
  June, 
  but 
  Professor 
  Thomas 
  records 
  that 
  less 
  than 
  half 
  of 
  the 
  pupsB 
  which 
  

   he 
  caged 
  hatched 
  out, 
  and 
  that 
  ''only 
  a 
  part 
  are 
  transformed 
  to 
  moths 
  during 
  the 
  

   season 
  of 
  their 
  larva 
  state." 
  ^7 
  Unfortunately 
  he 
  has 
  left 
  no 
  record 
  of 
  rearing 
  the 
  

   moths 
  from 
  those 
  chrysalides 
  the 
  following 
  spring, 
  and 
  we 
  do 
  not 
  know 
  to 
  how 
  large 
  

   a 
  degree 
  the 
  non-issuance 
  of 
  the 
  moths 
  was 
  owing 
  to 
  unfavorable 
  conditions 
  in 
  the 
  

   breeding 
  cage, 
  which 
  so 
  often 
  affect 
  insects 
  reared 
  in 
  confinement, 
  and 
  which 
  every 
  

   rearer 
  of 
  insects 
  is 
  so 
  familiar 
  with. 
  But 
  Mr. 
  Otto 
  Meske, 
  of 
  Albany, 
  N. 
  Y., 
  informs 
  

   me 
  that 
  he 
  once 
  found 
  a 
  chrysalis 
  about 
  the 
  middle 
  of 
  May 
  which 
  in 
  a 
  few 
  days 
  gave 
  

   him 
  the 
  genuine 
  unipuncta, 
  and 
  the 
  earliness 
  of 
  the 
  date 
  precludes 
  the 
  possibility 
  of 
  

   the 
  worm 
  having 
  been 
  hatched 
  the 
  same 
  spring 
  in 
  that 
  latitude, 
  and 
  renders 
  it 
  almost 
  

   certain 
  that 
  the 
  pupa 
  hibernated. 
  Of 
  more 
  value 
  still 
  is 
  the 
  earliness 
  of 
  appearance 
  

   and 
  freshness 
  of 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  moths 
  cax)tured 
  in 
  spring 
  — 
  indicating 
  that 
  they 
  have 
  

   just 
  come 
  from 
  the 
  ground. 
  These 
  facts 
  might, 
  it 
  is 
  true, 
  be 
  explained 
  by 
  the 
  larva 
  

   hibernating 
  partly 
  grown, 
  but 
  the 
  Peshtigo 
  experience 
  is 
  valuable 
  here 
  and 
  renders 
  

   the 
  other 
  conclusion 
  much 
  the 
  most 
  plausible. 
  In 
  fact 
  the 
  hibernation 
  of 
  a 
  certain 
  

   proportion 
  of 
  the 
  pupae 
  finds 
  its 
  parallel 
  in 
  numerous 
  other 
  instances 
  in 
  the 
  lives 
  of 
  

   moths 
  that 
  might 
  be 
  mentioned. 
  Every 
  experienced 
  entomologist 
  is 
  aware 
  that 
  with 
  

   lots 
  of 
  species 
  the 
  imagos 
  from 
  the 
  same 
  batch 
  of 
  larvae 
  often 
  issue 
  partly 
  in 
  fall, 
  

   partly 
  in 
  spring; 
  while 
  I 
  have 
  given 
  instances 
  in 
  previous 
  reports 
  of 
  still 
  greater 
  ir- 
  

   regularity. 
  The 
  worms 
  that 
  attract 
  such 
  attention, 
  about 
  the 
  time 
  our 
  wheat 
  is 
  

   ripening 
  by 
  marching 
  from 
  field 
  to 
  field 
  are 
  mostly 
  full 
  grown. 
  These 
  would 
  natu- 
  

   rally 
  soon 
  turn 
  to 
  moths; 
  but 
  it 
  must 
  not 
  be 
  forgotten 
  that 
  they 
  are 
  the 
  earliest 
  

   developed 
  and 
  that 
  the 
  younger 
  and 
  weaker 
  ones 
  have 
  mostly 
  been 
  obliged 
  to 
  suc- 
  

   cumb 
  in 
  the 
  struggle 
  for 
  individual 
  mastery, 
  which 
  must 
  have 
  preceded 
  the 
  forced 
  

   abandonment 
  from 
  sheer 
  hunger, 
  of 
  the 
  original 
  fields 
  ^here 
  they 
  were 
  born 
  ; 
  and 
  

   that, 
  further, 
  lin 
  fields 
  and 
  rank 
  places 
  where 
  the 
  worms 
  are 
  not 
  so 
  numerous 
  as 
  to 
  

   be 
  obliged 
  to 
  travel, 
  there 
  are 
  individuals 
  maturing 
  for 
  several 
  weeks 
  after 
  the 
  more 
  

   noticeable 
  hordes 
  have 
  vanished 
  out 
  of 
  sight. 
  As 
  to 
  the 
  hibernation 
  of 
  the 
  moth, 
  

   having 
  shown 
  that 
  the 
  larger 
  proportion 
  of 
  the 
  moths 
  captured 
  in 
  autumn 
  have 
  the 
  

   ovaries 
  yet 
  quite 
  immature, 
  it 
  is 
  pretty 
  evident 
  that 
  the 
  insect 
  hibernates 
  in 
  this 
  

   state, 
  and 
  I 
  learn 
  from 
  Mr. 
  Strecker, 
  that 
  he 
  has 
  in 
  fact, 
  found 
  the 
  moth 
  in 
  February, 
  

   hibernating 
  under 
  clap-boards 
  at 
  Reading, 
  Pa., 
  while 
  Mr. 
  B. 
  P. 
  Mann, 
  of 
  Cambridge, 
  

   Mass., 
  has 
  also 
  found 
  it 
  hibernating. 
  It 
  would 
  be 
  unreasonable 
  to 
  assume 
  that 
  such 
  

   large 
  numbers 
  of 
  the 
  moths 
  as 
  occur 
  in 
  autumn 
  are 
  destined 
  to 
  perish 
  without 
  issue. 
  

   Moreover, 
  a 
  large 
  number 
  of 
  closely 
  allied 
  moths 
  are 
  known 
  to 
  hibernate, 
  and 
  this 
  

   mode 
  of 
  hibernation 
  will 
  explain 
  more 
  of 
  the 
  known 
  facts 
  in 
  the 
  insect's 
  economy 
  

   than 
  any 
  other. 
  

  

  From 
  the 
  foregoing 
  considerations 
  I 
  think 
  we 
  may 
  safely 
  conclude 
  that 
  — 
  taking 
  

   our 
  whole 
  country 
  with 
  its 
  varied 
  climate 
  — 
  there 
  is 
  no 
  one 
  state 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  Army 
  

   Worm 
  can 
  be 
  said 
  to 
  solely 
  pass 
  the 
  winter; 
  that, 
  according 
  to 
  latitude 
  and 
  the 
  char- 
  

   acter 
  of 
  the 
  seasons, 
  there 
  is 
  nothing 
  to 
  preclude 
  its 
  hibernating 
  in 
  any 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  

   four 
  states 
  in 
  which 
  it 
  exists; 
  that 
  in 
  the 
  same 
  latitude 
  and 
  under 
  the 
  same 
  condi- 
  

  

  "f 
  Illinois 
  Farmer, 
  September, 
  1861, 
  pp. 
  271, 
  272. 
  

  

  