00 



HABITS AND LIFE HISTOliY. 



It came first to my own notice in May, 1884, among a small lot 

 of corn cutworms from Henry county, Illinois; but the larva did 

 not again attract our attention until May 10, 1887,* when it was 

 discovered in Southern Illinois making a serious attack on corn 

 in Williamson county, and infesting oats near Carbondale. May 

 25 it was also noticed in corn fields, with ^4. saiicia, near Cham- 

 paign. 



In 1888 the species w^as first heard from in Edwards county, 

 April 22, as a "clover cutworm previously unknown," — the speci- 

 mens sent us being largely full grown (1.1 inch long). In a let- 

 ter accompanying these larvse Mr. A. J. McNeely wrote: "They 

 begin at the top of the clover and work downward to the bottom 

 branches. About noon they collect around the roots, where I have 

 found as many as fifteen about one plant." 



April 27 I found the clover field near Albion from which these 

 cutworms were taken, very largely laid bare, the whole plant being 

 eaten away to the roots. The larvae were full grown, everywhere abun- 

 dant, and making their way to a field of young clover adjacent. 

 No evidence was seen of disease or extensive parasitism. 



The same larva was also found in large numbers on the Uni- 

 versity grounds at Urbana late in April and early in May, feed- 

 ing at first especially on clover, denuding patches in meadows, and 

 pickin^c the clover out from among the blue grass. May 7 these 

 cutworms were brought in from oats fields on the University farm, 

 and May 21 a large collection of them, ranging from one half to 

 full grown, was made from grass lands, freshly plowed, on this 

 farm. May 29 immense numbers of them were found at Urbana 

 in a little-used roadway adjoining a meadow (from which they 

 had evidently emerged), nearly all full grown and preparing for 

 pupation. The earth in the lane was honey-combed everywhere 

 with holes half an inch to an inch in depth. Thirty-eight speci- 

 mens were unearthed here from a square foot of ground. A heavy 

 rain having driven them from the earth, vast numbers of them 

 were exposed on the surface, semi-torpid, as if affected by disease. 



been identified for me by Mr. John B. Smith. It is there compared with subgothica and with the 

 European vfiMir/ial/fi, of which latter species Riley thinke it may be a variety merely. His descrip- 

 lion was drawn up from two males and six females, all bred from larvjp, but no notes on the life 

 history are jjiven. 



Morrison apin deiscribes the specie." at some lt>nu;tli (Proc. Phil. Acad Sci. 1875 [printed April 

 ii71, p. 69) as gcdt/idrid, Morrison citinfrhis ori{,'inal descrii)tion— Iho (irKt here given— and comparinj; 

 with rp.nt.if I in lis. His si)ecimen8 were captured in Canada, in May, and July 9. 



The si)ecie8 is next mentioned by Orote (loc. clt., p. JtW) under both thoabove names (Morrison's 

 second description only, l)eiiij^ cit<'d tor (jlddiarht). iJrote notices the similarity of the forms, but 

 ilmls his supposed specimens of r/fai/iarfd smaller than types of niorrhonidiia. On page l.V^ of the 

 Bumo j)aper, he exi)r(^ssf,rt the opini(jn that the original inorrixoiildud oi Morrison is n synonym of 

 (llddidria. Finally, in his new Check lilst of iNorth American .Moths (IHS'J), p. 26, both names, 

 morrison/(ui.a, lliley, and f//a<li.dfia, Morrison, are entered as of distinct species. 



•Tlx- doHtrucflve abundance of the larva In 1HH7 and 1S8S was foreshadowed by the occurrence at 

 the electric light of Immensfniumhers of the imago in Septembi'r, ISSti, our collections of the even- 

 iug of the 21th, cHpoclally, yielding unexauii)ied (juanlitieH of the sijecies. 



