30 
CUTWORMS. 
These insects are among- the most troublesome with which the vege- 
table grower has to deal, but, although often associated with injury to 
sugar beet, the}^ as a rule show no preference for this plant. Hence 
they are of little importance save under exceptional circumstances, 
when they attack newly planted crops. They are usually present 
in most gardens and fields, and it is a question of their appearance in 
numbers and at the time of the year when the plants are just begin- 
ning to grow, as to 
whether they will 
prove sufficiently de- 
structive to require 
remedial treatment. 
The}^ are likely to 
attack any portion 
of a beet plant — foli- 
age, flowers, stalks, 
fruits, oi roots — and 
when they are suffi- 
ciently abundant to 
migrate like army 
worms they can be 
quite injurious. 
Although we have 
two or three score of 
Fig. 2b.—Peridroma margaritosa: a, moth; b, normal form of larra, ■:»,-,•,, i.i^,,^ ^, •fTrrrk-r'ma 
lateral view; c, same in curved position; d, dark form, dorsal view; l^JllllOUS CUtWOimS, 
c, egg from side; /, egg mass on twig (after Howard, Division of Ento- not morC than half SL 
™^ ^^^^' dozen of these have 
been reported to be seriousty troublesome to sugar beet. The different 
species vary considerably^ as to life and other habits, but in this con- 
nection brief mention will be made of only a few of the most important 
insects of this group. 
THE VARIEGATED CUTWORM. 
(Peridronui inargaritosa Haw. [saucia Hbn.].) 
There is little doubt that this is the most important and widely 
known of all cutworms. It is cosmopolitan and likely to be found 
anywhere, and although it favors vegetable crops it is able to eke out 
an existence on almost an}'- form of vegetation. The progenitor of 
this cutworm is a rather large gra^dsh-brown moth or ''miller," and 
the full-grown cutworm measures about If inches. It is variable, like 
the moth, some forms being pale and others darker. The usual ground 
color is rather dull brown, mottled with gray and smoky black above, 
the characteristic feature consisting of a row of four to six yellow 
