BIOLOGICAL STUDIES OF THE GREEN CLOVER WORM 
11 
with the foliage and renders detection difficult. The injury resulting 
from the work of this caterpillar is of a scattered character, giving 
the field a ragged appearance. Figure 12 shows a soybean leaf eaten 
in a characteristic manner. 
This distribution of injury 
may partly be accounted 
for by the readiness with 
which the larvae leap off a 
plant even when slightly dis- 
turbed. The larvae, most 
noticeably the young ones, 
have the habit when mo- 
lested of sharply bending 
their bodies somewhat like 
a jackknife instead of coil- 
ing them. 
QUANTITIES OF FOOD EATEN 
In order to ascertain the 
quantity of foliage eaten by 
a single caterpillar in the 
course of its life, a series 
of larvae were supplied with 
measured quantities of cow- 
pea and alfalfa leaf, and it 
was found that the average 
larva consumed foliage equivalent to about 19 average-sized leaflets 
of alfalfa. Table 4 shows the average quantity eaten by each of five 
larva? during the first five instars, and by each of four during the 
sixth. 
Fig. 12. 
-Soybean loaf eaten in characteristic manner by the 
green clover worm 
Table 4. — Quantity of foliage eaten by larvae of the green clover worm 
Square 
Instar millimeters 
First 3. 9 
Second 34 
Third 84 
Fourth 117 
Fifth 624 
Sixth 1, 660 
Total 2, 522. 9 
LARVAL DEVELOPMENT 
The larva molts five times in the course of its development, although 
in exceptional instances individuals have been observed to undergo 
six molts. Table 5 shows the length of the instars from records of 33 
larva? reared during summer and fall seasons in Tennessee. The 
rearings were conducted in an outdoor insectary under conditions and 
temperatures approximating the natural environment. The average 
length of the larval period came to 22.84 days. 
