97 



In habit these three bugs resemble the Chinch Bug to a considerable 

 degree, only that they are earlier in their egg-laying, and that their 

 food-plants are weeds and other herbaceous plants, rather than grasses. 

 They also move about on the wing in a similar manner to that of the 

 Micropus leucopterus. Last spring, on one day in particular, the air was 

 full of these and other small hemipterous insects. At just what date 

 this flight occurred I do not remember now, but know it was during the 

 month of May. 



The three species referred to above in connection with, the injuries 

 recorded, all occur upon ground that has been neglected and allowed 

 to grow up to purslane and Amaranthus. The two latter named are 

 also occasionally found about smart-weed (Polygonum) during late 

 summer and fall, while the first mentioned is also inclined to be par- 

 tial to " stink" grass at times. 



CUT- WORMS. 



Scarcely a year passes without a report of damages from cut-worms 

 in various parts of the country. Here in Nebraska quite a large num- 

 ber of the night-flying moths belonging to the genera Agrotis, Hadena, 

 Mamestra, etc., are often the cause of much worry and not infrequently 

 the loss of much time and money to the farmer and gardener. 



At about the same time that the bugs mentioned above were the most 

 plentiful and doing their injury to trees, vines, etc., the reports of cut- 

 worm depredations began coming in to the station from various districts 

 within and without the city limits. These reports included injuries to 

 both garden and field crops, and from the fact that they were received 

 from widely separated localities, the pest was quite general over the 

 eastern part of the State. Specimens of at least a half dozen distinct 

 species of the worms were received by me, along with the statement 

 that they were the authors of the injury. Among these I recognized 

 Agrotis annexa, A. suffusa, A. messoria, A. saucia, and A. clandestina. 



So abundant were several species of these worms that they literally 

 cultivated the ground at places where they burrowed during day- 

 time. Nor did the worms content themselves with feeding upon culti- 

 vated plants alone, but also, in many instances, kept down the weeds. 

 Here in the city of Lincoln, upon a vacant square that had been used 

 bytheboysas a base-ball ground, and where theordinary "pepper- grass" 

 was growing in profusion, the Agrotis anne.ra finally succeeded in clear- 

 ing the ground of this weed. So voracious did the worms become be- 

 fore maturity that the pepper-grass was even cut off and the stems 

 drawn into their retreats in the ground, where they might be devoured 

 during day-time. On cloudy days the worms even ventured forth 

 to feed openly by daylight, scurrying back into their holes when the sun 

 came out for a moment. In the hard trampled ground their holes were 

 smooth-cut and presented a very interesting sight indeed when the occu- 

 pants issued forth and quickly returned upon the least disturbance, like 

 23479— No. 22 7 



