1884.] Entomology. 297 
Foop-PLANTS OF THE ARMY WORM.—In Bulletin No. 3, Ento- 
mological Division, Dept. Agriculture, some new facts are re- 
corded in reference to Leucania unipuncta,and notably an ac- 
count of its injury to cranberry bogs. We quote the following 
in reference to its food-plants : 
“The normal food-plants of the army worm are found among 
the grasses and grains, not a single species of either, so far as 
known, coming amiss. Wheat and oats seem to be its favorite 
among the small grains, though rye and barley are also taken 
with less relish. German millet, corn and sorghum, particularly 
when young and tender, are eaten by the worms. They were 
found, in 1881, feeding to a greater or less extent on flax in Illi- 
nois, although this is mentioned by Fitch as one of the crops 
which the worms will not touch. They have also been reported 
to eat onions, peas, beans and other vegetables, though probably 
only when pressed with hunger. As stated in our Eighth Mis- 
souri Report, upon the reliable authority of Mr. B. F. Mills, of 
Makanda, Ill., they have also been known to eat the leaves of 
fruit trees. Ordinarily clover is disregarded by the worms, though 
ey occasionally nibble at it. A timothy field is often eaten to 
the ground, leaving the clover scattered through it standing. In 
this connection it may be well to state that on the Department 
grounds at Washington the newly-hatched worms have been 
found in a folded clover leaf, feeding thus protected, and under 
such circumstances as rendered it probable that they had been 
hatched there. í 
“Mr. Lockwood stated in his report (see last Annual Report 
of this Department) that even the common ragweed (Ambrosia 
artemisiefolia) was eaten clean by the worms, and also that the 
Worms in passing through a strawberry patch devoured both the 
leaves of the plant and the unripe fruit. 
_ In order to establish upon proper authority the facts concern- 
ng what the army worm will and will not eat when pushed by 
unger, we conducted during the summer of 1881-’82, a series 
experiments upon different plants, placing each plant in a sep- 
arate breeding-cage with a few healthy half-grown larva. The 
results show an unexpected power of accommodation to plants 
in many families, and no resultant variation in the imagines worth 
mentioning, 
k The results are summarized below : 
PENRE -Papaver somniferum. (Garden poppy.) 
Aet ur larvæ all attained full growth and entered the ground. Three moths 
= #—Brassica oleracea. (Cabbage.) 
The four larvæ in his case moved restlessly about for the first day without 
changed second day they began to feed, and by the fifteenth all had 
Ceca. to pupa. In this state two died, but the other two issued as : 
of — Raphanus sativus. (Radish.) ; 
in =i larvze two lived to issue as moths; one died in the pupa, and one 
arva state, 
