106 
As has been mentioned alread}^ the work of the young bollworni is 
often termed ''sharpshooter work," and tlie ver}^ young larva? referred 
to as sharpshooters, thus confusing them with the true sharpshooter, 
Hamalodisca trlguetra Fab., which feeds b}^ puncturing the stems of 
the cotton plant (see fig. 12). 
When greatly pressed for food, the cotton-leaf caterpillar, AJalama 
{Aletia) argiUacea^ sometimes injures small bolls in a way which might 
possibly be mistaken for bollworm injury. Bolls thus injured alwaN^s 
have the involucre eaten away first, and then large irregular cavities 
are eaten out along the sides. Often several caterpillars take part in 
injuring the same boll. 
In the identification of the bollworm moth by planters frequent mis- 
takes are made. The moths most usuallv confused are the arm}' worm, 
Heliophila {Leuccmia) uni- 
jmncta, and the cotton moth, 
Alabama, just referred to 
above. It is very unfortunate 
that such confusion exists, since 
on account of it the moths of 
the third brood are not noticed 
when they begin to oviposit on 
cotton. To know the dates of 
maximum oviposition is impor- 
tant, since all attempts at poi- 
soning the 3'oung larva? must 
be made with a knowledge of 
the time when they will be 
hatching from the eggs. 
On corn, however, several 
species injure the plant in a 
way somewhat similar to the 
bollworm, both by feeding in 
the tender "bud'' and in the 
ear. In the South the larva of 
the fall army worm, Laj)lnjgma 
fTiigijJerda S. & A., is often found during the spring of the ^^ear 
eating out the bud of field corn, and from its resemblance to the lighter- 
colored bollworms is usually mistaken for that insect. During the 
summer late-planted June or other corn is usuall}' badly infested by 
the fall army worm, and the offender is almost universally considered 
to be the bollworm. The former insect occasionally bores into the soft 
milky ears of corn, either from the tip end, or from the base or side. 
In the more northern States, and occasionally south, the larva of 
Papaipeina nitela Guen. eats into the bud of young field corn, boring- 
Fig. 12.— "Sharpshooter," HomaJodisca triquetra (after 
Rilev and Howard). 
