THE CULTIVATOR. 



115 J 



ENTOMOIiOaT. 



IVo. 8 — Cut-wonnfl. 



L. A. IJuowN, Esq., of West Haven, Ct., under date 

 of July 2l8t, 1855, writes to the editors of the Country 

 Gentleman as follows: 



Will you or como of your readers inform us, through 

 your paper, how the Cut-ivorm is produced — whether 

 from the miller, or whether they bring forth their young 

 like the rabbit or any of the animal creation 1 I would 

 like to know also whether one kind of soil more than 

 another, or whether ditferent manures, coarse or One, 

 have a tendency to increase thoir numbers. Their 

 name is legion with us, this season. More than thirty 

 have been found around one cucumber hiJl. Whole 

 fields of cabbages have been cut down in a night. The 

 subject of Iheir production has been up for discussion, 

 but no one seem's to know, nor is there any author that 

 we have that throws any light on the subject. I have 

 had some experience relating to their production, but 

 it is 60 at variance with my previous ideas that I want 

 more light before publishing it. 



Whether the cut- worm is more numerous in one kind 

 of soil than another, I am unable to gay. The soil of 

 my own neighborhood is a gravelly loam, and in this 

 the out-worm is common. I presume it is equally com- 

 mon in sandy and clay soils. In one instance, at the 

 bottom of a bowl-shaped hollow, where the soil partook 

 of the nature of a stiff clay, a number of cut-worms 

 were found, when there were scarcely any in the sur- 

 rounding gravelly soil ; but it was probably the more 

 juicy, tender growth of the com in this damp hollow, 

 which caused the worms to gather there, rather than 

 the nature of the soil. 



I do not think the fertility of the soil, or the kind of 

 manure which is applied to it, has any influence upon 

 these worms, except in making the plants grow more 

 succulent, for it is vegetation of this character which 

 appears to be their favorite food. We all know those 

 worms are common in our highly manured gardens. 

 And I have never found them more plenty than on one 

 occasion among beans planted upon a hill-side, so bar- 

 ren that it was thought nothing else could bo raised 

 there. 



The biography of these worms is briefly as follows: 

 The parent insect drops her eggs upon the ground, the 

 latter part of summer. These soon hatch, and the 

 young worms which come from them, crawl into the 

 ground and feed upon the roots and tender shoots of 

 herboceous plants. AVhen cold weather arrives they 

 descend a few inches below the surface and there lie 

 torpid during the winter, and renew their activity when 

 spring returns. It is not until they have nearly com- 

 pleted their growth, in the month of June, that they 

 show that habit which renders them so injurious, and 

 has acquired for them thoir mime, "cut-w(irm." They 

 then crawl from the earth, by night, and with thoir 

 sharp teeth cut ofl" the young succulent plants of maize, 

 cabbage, beans, Ac, almost as smoothly as though it 

 were done with a knife. When daylight approaches, 

 each worm crawls into the ground again, entering it 

 within a few inches of the plant it has severed — the 

 newly disturbed and rough appearance of the dirt 

 showing the exact spot where it has gone into the 

 ground, and rendering it easy to uncover and destroy 

 the worm. Having got its growth it forms n little oval 

 cavity in the ground, within which it tics and changes 

 to a pupa or chrysalis. In this state it has some resem- 

 blance to a long slim egg of a chestnut brown color, 

 having several impre<isod rings or joints towards its 

 pointed or tail end. From this pupa, in three or four 

 ks, hatches the perfect insect, which is a dark col- 

 ored miller or moth. 



Every observing person is aware there are Severn! 

 kinds of these worm.s, differing from each other in the 

 color of their head.4, the stripes upon their bodies, and 

 in their habits. But unfortunately ne do not yet know 

 which particular species of moth it is which either of 

 the kinds of these worms produces. I have repeatedly 

 endeavored to breed the moth from these worms, by 

 placing them in cages into which I transplanted >'oung 

 corn, beans, &c., and also by placing bell-glnsses over 

 corn hills where worms had buried themselves, But I 

 have never been able to succeed. The worms on fin-l- 

 ing themselves imprisoned, refuse to eat, and hurriedly 

 crawl around and around tne inner side of their prison, 

 night after night, until they literally travel themselves 

 to death. They are by no means such sluggish, stupid 

 creatures as one would suppose from seeing them in 

 the day time. By night they are as active ns any 

 uther animal whose skin is stuff'ed and distended with 

 fdod as theirs is. They are evidently able to crawl 

 quite u distance in a single night. It is the common 

 opinion that they are always bred in the ground near 

 the spot whore they do their mischief. But I suspect 

 they are everywhere wandering about, nightly, in 

 search of such tender, succulent plants as will furnish 

 them a dainty repast, and that they thus in many in- 

 stances enter our gardens and corn-fields from the sur- 

 rounding enclosures. They certainly, if so inclined, 

 could travel across the largest of our arable fields in a 

 few hours. 



The following short descriptions of the different kinds 

 of cut-worms which have fallen under my notice, and 

 their habits, I extract from my manuscripts. All lhe?c 

 worms, except the White one, a»-e about an inch and a 

 quarter in length when at rest, and an inch and a half 

 when crawling. They all have four polished elevated 

 dots upon each segment, on the back, and a few others 

 which are less distinct, upon the sides, each dot bearing 

 an exceedingly fine hair. 



The Rkd-headed cut-worm is of a dull pale brown 

 color, without any stripes, and may be distinguished 

 from all the other kinds by its head, which is of a taw- 

 ny red color, instead of smoky yellowish as it is in each 

 of the following, except the last one. Common in 

 cornfields, cutting off the plants slightly below the sur- 

 face of the ground, and thus always destroying them. 

 Od Staten and Long Island, I am told, this species is 

 popularly named the "Tiger worm," from its destruc- 

 tive habits, and that the name out-worm is there ap- 

 plied only to the next species. 



The Striped cut-worm is dirty whitish or pnle 

 smoky, with darker brown stripes, of which there are 

 two along the back and three broader ones along each 

 side; dots black, as they are in the preceding species, 

 but not so minute. This is the most common kind in 

 cornfields, cutting off the plants half an inch above 

 the ground ; hence the stalk frequently shoots up again, 

 from the middle of the stump. This occasionally oc- 

 curs among beans otso. It buries itself but slightly, 

 and may sometimes be found with half its back expos- 

 ed, even though the sun be shining clear and hot. 



The Faintlv-hnkd cut-worm is dull brown, with 

 Tory faint pale longitudinal lines, and the polished dots 

 but little darker than the general color. Found in corn- 

 fields, but more commonly in gardens among cabbages 

 and sometimes among onions. Buries itself butslightly 



The White cut-worm is smaller, being scarcely an 

 inch long when at rest, It is dull white, with black 

 dots and no stripes or lines except a row of very faint 

 brownish touches along the upper part of each side. 

 It is rare, a single individual being occasionally fouod 

 among corn and beans. 



The Black-headed cut-worm is dull dark brown, 

 with faint traces of pale lines, and its head deep black. 

 This is probably what is named the "Black worm" 

 in some neighborhoods. It is the most common kind 

 among beans, cutting them off slightly below the sur- 

 face, and drawing the severed stem into the hole whe 

 it buries itself, and there feeding upon it during the 



