﻿136 
  REPORT 
  UNITED 
  STATES 
  ENTOMOLOGICAL 
  COMMISSION. 
  

  

  CORRESFONDENCE 
  ANENT 
  THE 
  ARMY 
  WORM— 
  SPRING 
  OF 
  1882. 
  

  

  I 
  send 
  you 
  tlie 
  inclosed 
  coiiimmiication 
  from 
  the 
  Hiintsville 
  coire- 
  

   spoiideut 
  of 
  the 
  Chattanooga 
  Times 
  in 
  relation 
  to 
  an 
  invasion 
  of 
  the 
  

   wheat 
  crop 
  in 
  this 
  vicinity 
  by 
  the 
  Army 
  Worm. 
  I 
  reconnoitered 
  the 
  

   invaders 
  yesterday, 
  and 
  witnessed 
  with 
  feelings 
  of 
  much 
  sadness 
  the 
  

   devastations 
  already 
  wrought 
  by 
  them 
  on 
  Stevens' 
  faroi. 
  I 
  captured 
  

   and 
  examined 
  some 
  of 
  them. 
  It 
  is 
  the 
  Army 
  Worm 
  described 
  in 
  the 
  

   Agricultural 
  Eeport 
  for 
  1879, 
  page 
  187, 
  and 
  the 
  same 
  I 
  think 
  that 
  ap- 
  

   peared 
  here 
  in 
  1861. 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  The 
  insects 
  are 
  of 
  different 
  ages, 
  and-it 
  

   is 
  to 
  be 
  apprehended 
  that 
  there 
  will 
  be 
  successive 
  crops 
  of 
  them. 
  

   * 
  * 
  * 
  Upon 
  examining 
  an 
  oat-field 
  yesterday, 
  in 
  company 
  with 
  Mr. 
  

   White, 
  I 
  found 
  multitudes 
  of 
  very 
  small 
  worms 
  concealed 
  under 
  the 
  

   oats 
  sown 
  this 
  spring. 
  It 
  was 
  about 
  half 
  past 
  3 
  p. 
  m., 
  and 
  the 
  sun 
  

   shining. 
  They 
  will 
  doubtless 
  destroy 
  it. 
  Mr. 
  Bedermann's 
  oat 
  patch, 
  

   near 
  Stevens' 
  wheat-field, 
  has 
  been 
  completely 
  destroyed. 
  Some 
  of 
  the 
  

   larger 
  worms 
  in 
  Stevens' 
  field 
  show 
  that 
  the 
  Tachiua 
  parasite 
  has 
  been 
  

   operating 
  upon 
  them. 
  I 
  never 
  saw 
  a 
  more 
  promising 
  wheat 
  crop 
  than 
  

   Stevens' 
  before 
  this 
  invasion. 
  White 
  sard 
  to 
  me 
  that 
  in 
  the 
  beginning 
  

   of 
  last 
  week 
  he 
  would 
  not 
  have 
  taken 
  $2,000 
  for 
  his 
  own 
  wheat 
  crop 
  j 
  

   that 
  he 
  does 
  not 
  now 
  expect 
  to 
  reap 
  anything 
  from 
  it. 
  1 
  hear 
  of 
  this 
  

   insect 
  in 
  the 
  neighborhood 
  of 
  Kew 
  Market 
  and 
  Whitesbury. 
  — 
  [S. 
  D. 
  

   Cabaniss, 
  Huntsville, 
  Ala., 
  May 
  2, 
  1882. 
  

  

  An 
  interesting 
  feature 
  of 
  the 
  appearance 
  of 
  the 
  worm 
  in 
  Alabama 
  in 
  

   May 
  is 
  contained 
  in 
  the 
  following 
  letter 
  to 
  Mr. 
  Howard 
  upon 
  his 
  return 
  

   from 
  the 
  investigation 
  made 
  at 
  Huntsville. 
  The 
  insect 
  confounded 
  with 
  

   the 
  Army 
  Worm 
  is 
  the 
  clover-hay 
  worm 
  [Asopia 
  costaUs) 
  : 
  

  

  Sm 
  : 
  While 
  you 
  were 
  here 
  a 
  few 
  days 
  since, 
  investigatiug 
  tlie 
  phenomena 
  of 
  the 
  

   worm 
  in 
  wheat, 
  I 
  had 
  the 
  pleasure 
  of 
  an 
  introduction 
  and 
  a 
  brief 
  conversation 
  with 
  

   you, 
  and 
  take, 
  therefore, 
  the 
  liberty 
  of 
  stating 
  to 
  you 
  a 
  curious 
  phase 
  of 
  the 
  worm. 
  

   Mr. 
  J. 
  G. 
  Baker, 
  living 
  here 
  in 
  1881, 
  produced 
  clover 
  hay 
  — 
  about 
  two 
  tons 
  per 
  acre 
  — 
  

   on 
  rich 
  land 
  near 
  the 
  corporate 
  limits 
  of 
  Huntsville. 
  The 
  hay 
  was 
  cut, 
  cured, 
  and 
  

   placed 
  in 
  the 
  mow 
  — 
  about 
  eight 
  tons. 
  He 
  used 
  down 
  to 
  about 
  two 
  tons, 
  and 
  a 
  few 
  

   days 
  ago, 
  on 
  taking 
  out 
  and 
  delivering 
  a 
  load 
  of 
  hay, 
  after 
  taking 
  it 
  ofl" 
  the 
  wagon, 
  

   discovered 
  on 
  the 
  iioor 
  of 
  the 
  wagon 
  innumerable 
  worms 
  about 
  one-half 
  inch 
  long, 
  

   dark 
  or 
  greenish-brown 
  in 
  color. 
  He 
  then 
  returned 
  and 
  found 
  on 
  examination 
  of 
  the 
  

   hay-mow 
  countless 
  numbers 
  of 
  these 
  worms 
  — 
  also 
  what 
  seems 
  to 
  be 
  a 
  kind 
  of 
  web 
  spun 
  

   in 
  the 
  deb7'is 
  at 
  bottom, 
  which 
  had 
  multitudes 
  of 
  eggs 
  half 
  the 
  size 
  of 
  a 
  mustard 
  seed 
  

   and 
  black 
  in 
  color. 
  This 
  was 
  about 
  the 
  first 
  of 
  May, 
  and 
  the 
  worms 
  have 
  now 
  disap- 
  

   peared. 
  It 
  seems 
  to 
  be 
  a 
  theory 
  that 
  these 
  worms 
  are 
  bred 
  in 
  clover-fields, 
  and 
  this 
  

   finding 
  them 
  in 
  clover-hay 
  would 
  seem 
  to 
  establish 
  their 
  habit 
  of 
  depositing 
  their 
  

   eggs 
  on 
  the 
  clover-stalk 
  in 
  the 
  field, 
  in 
  this 
  case 
  carrying 
  them 
  over 
  to 
  the 
  next 
  year 
  

   and 
  hatching 
  then. 
  This 
  hay 
  was 
  cut 
  about 
  June 
  1, 
  1881, 
  and 
  taken 
  out 
  about 
  May 
  

   1, 
  1882. 
  This 
  theory 
  struck 
  me 
  as 
  possibly 
  incouse(|uential, 
  but 
  of 
  enough 
  curiosity 
  

   to 
  write 
  you.— 
  [L. 
  W. 
  Day, 
  Huntsville, 
  Ala., 
  May 
  13, 
  1882. 
  

  

  The 
  Army 
  Worm 
  is 
  making 
  severe 
  inroads 
  upon 
  the 
  wheat 
  crop 
  and 
  

   other 
  crops 
  here 
  in 
  middle 
  Tennessee. 
  — 
  [J. 
  W. 
  Sparks, 
  Murfreesborough, 
  

   Tenn., 
  May 
  20. 
  

  

  