RECENT ARMY WORM AND VARIEGATED CUTWORM 
OUTBREAKS IN IOWA 
H. E. JAQUES 
The 1919 and 1920 outbreaks of Army worms within our state 
were by no means new experiences for Iowa. Previous heavy 
losses from this pest, however, date back so many years that 
the younger generation of farmers knew them only by tradition. 
With older men, the memories of their experiences seem to have 
been somewhat confused so that many stories were related that 
were but in part in keeping with the history and habits of the 
Army worm. With all classes there seemed to be an unwarranted 
fear of the insect and exaggerated ideas of its ability to travel, 
reproduce and defy the efforts of man to control it. 
THE 1919 OUTBREAK 
Beginning early in June and continuing throughout the month 
reports of serious damage due to attacks of the Army worm and 
the Variegated cutworm were received from many of the counties 
in the southern part of the state. It was found that these attacks 
with the exception of a few scattering outbreaks, were confined 
to the four rows of counties comprising the southern part of the 
state, with a more or less serious infestation in practically ever}^ 
county within this range. Thruout the western half of this belt 
the Variegated cutworm was by far the most numerous while 
in the eastern part of this region the Army worm was easily the 
predominating species. This then represented the northern limits 
for this longitude of a general and destructive outbreak of the 
Army worm which occurred in the spring of 1919 and which had 
its southern boundary well down in Texas. 
On the sixteenth of June in company with the county agent 
of Lee county a corn field west of Donnelson was visited. Army 
worms had hatched in a low lying woods pasture adjacent to the 
corn field and were at the time of our visit migrating well into 
the corn field. The corn which would average a foot in height 
was being seriously eaten, with many worms to the hill. Although 
it was mid-day with bright sunshine, the worms were actively 
