78 



INJURIOUS INSECTS 



these birds will regularly visit an infested lawn or pas- 

 ture every morning and prosecute their beneficial work. 

 It is not unlikely that much of the corn pulling for which 

 these and other birds are blamed is done in the search 

 for these grubs. The Skunk is very fond of the beetles 

 and destroys large numbers of them. In a number of 

 localities in Ohio, Iowa, and Missouri, AYhite Grubs have 

 been found with a long horn protruding from each side 

 of the head, as in figure 49. These horns " do not 

 properly belong to the grub, but are really vegetable para- 



Fig. i9.— WHITE GKUB WITH PAKASITIC FUNGUS. 



sites, being a kind of fungus. The occurrence of fungi 

 upon other grubs in some Oriental countries has long 

 been known, and the occasional abundance of this upon 

 our native pest, encourages the hope that here may be 

 found an important aid to the cultivator. At all events, 

 grubs found with these horn-like appendages should not 

 be destroyed, but left with the hope that the beneficial 

 vegetable may be propagated and become common. 



THE CUT- WORMS. 



Among the greatest enemies to the Corn crop, esp. - 

 ially in its young state, are the Cut-worms, though their 

 attacks are by no means confined to this plant, but they 

 feed upon a great number of cultivated plants, cutting 

 them off near the surface of the ground. It is a compar- 

 atively recent discovery that some of these worms, for- 



