CUTWORMS, ARMYWORMS, AND RELATED SPECIES 



23 



Table 3. — Mortalities of larvae of Feltia subgothica caused by various 

 natural enemies, 1920-39 





Larvae 

 observed 



Larvae killed by — 



Total 



Year 



Hyme- 

 noptera 



Diptera 



Disease 



mortal- 

 ity 



1920 



Number 



81 



46 



188 



6 



5 



69 



114 



48 



Percent 

 

 2 

 4 

 

 

 13 

 22 

 8 



Percent 

 

 



. 5 

 

 

 

 4 

 2 



Percent 

 

 

 

 

 



1 





 



Percent 

 



1921 



2 



1922 



4 



1923 _ _ 







1924 







1925 __ -_ _ 



14 



1926 



26 



1927 _ __ 



10 



1928-33 ! 





1934 __ ______ 



26 

 143 

 206 

 501 

 230 

 8 





 10 



7 

 15 



7 

 12 



4 

 1 

 3 

 2 



.4 

 



8 

 17 

 4 

 3 

 3 

 



12 



1935 



28 



1936_ __ _ _ _ _ 



14 



1937 



21 



1938 



10 



1939 



12 







1 No collections. 



The parasites and disease organisms reared from the larvae were 

 as follows: 



Hymenoptera — Microplitis feltiae Mues., Rogas n. sp., Campoletis per- 

 distinctus (Vier.), Campoletis oxylus (Cress.), Liothorax melanocera Ashm., 

 Berecyntus bakeri var. bakeri How., B. bakeri var. euxoae Gir., and Meteorus 

 vulgaris (Cress.). 



Disease organisms— Metarrhizium anisopliae (Metsch), Beauveria sp., and an 

 unidentified wilt. 



Feltia subterranea (Fabricius) 



Granulate Cutworm 

 (Figs. 2, E; 4, G; 7, E) 



Distribution. — Crumb (5) states that this species is distributed from 

 Massachusetts and New York westward to South Dakota, Arizona, 

 and California, but that it probably does not breed regularly in the 

 northern parts of this range. It is most abundant in the extreme 

 South. It also is found in the Bahama Islands, Puerto Rico, Central 

 America, and South America. The writer has taken adults at light 

 traps at Cherry vale, Manhattan, Hays, and Garden City, Kans., and 

 at Lincoln, Nebr. None were collected in three seasons at Scotts- 

 bluff, Nebr. 



Economic status. — In the central Great Plains this cutworm is of 

 very minor economic importance. In the South, however, it is of 

 considerable importance. Jones (11) says that in collections of 

 cutworms at Baton Rouge, La., 94 percent were Feltia subterranea. 



Food plants and larval habits. — The larvae feed on a wide range of 

 plants, particularly vegetable crops. Jones (11) notes three types 

 of feeding- — cutting off small plants near the surface of the ground, 



