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NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



FALL ARMY WORM 

 Laphygma frugiperda Sm. & Abb. 

 This sporadic pest attracted notice the past season for the second 

 time in recent years on account of injury by the larvae to lawns. 

 The earlier outbreak occurred in Buffalo in 1900, the caterpillars 

 destroying the grass of lawns by cutting it off just below the ground. 

 Several reports of injuries to lawns were received last fall from 

 persons ^in New York City, while Mr Roy Latham, of Orient Point, 

 stated that the caterpillars were very abundant under date of Sep- 

 tember nth, occurring in corn, Hungarian and wild crab grass. 

 The latter he considered a source of the pest and stated that acres 

 of lawn and Hungarian had been ruined. The last part of Sep- 

 tember he reported thousands of caterpillars on corn, there being 

 at that time many very young ones. 



Characteristics of outbreaks. The work of the fall army worm 

 is most easily recognized because it usually occurs much later than 

 that of the true army worm. It feeds by preference upon a variety 

 of grasses and, under certain conditions at least, seems to display 

 a marked preference for lawns. This latter habit has not only 

 been observed in New York State but also in Illinois and West 

 Virginia. The caterpillar responsible for this trouble is smaller 

 and more slender than the true army worm, Heliophila uni- 

 puncta Haw., and is peculiar in the somewhat narrower, nearly 

 black head with a more or less distinct, inverted, Y-shaped mark 

 in front bordering the eyes and extending down to the mouth- 

 parts. 



Description. The moth is al- 

 lied to that of the true army 

 worm, Heliophila u 11 i - 

 puncta Haw., though quite 

 different in coloration, since 

 there is no minute, white spot 

 on the forewings. These in the 

 fall army worm are rather dull 

 grayish brown, with indistinct, 

 oval, lighter markings as illus- 

 trated in the accompanying 

 figure. 



Fig. 2 Fall army worm, a, Moth, the plain, gray form ; b, forewing of 

 mottled form; c, larva extended; d, ahdominal segment of larva; c, lateral 

 view of pupa; d, twice natural size, others enlarged one-fourth. (After 

 Chittenden, U. S. Div. Ent., Bui. 29, 1901) 



