56 
On the 9th I visited Tremont, and saw the species at work in 
the wheat fields, although it had at this time nearly closed its 
career for the season, by far the greater part of the brood having 
entered the earth for pupation. On the 10th and 11th, an assistant. 
Mr. C. A. Hart, made a trip through the fields of Tazewell and 
Mason counties, carefully observing the insect in the field and col- 
lecting specimens for the breeding cages. 
LITERATURE. 
This species was first described by Smith and Abbott, in their 
“Rarer Lepidopterous Insects of Georgia,” in 1797, under the name 
of Phalcena frugiperda. Its character as an injurious agricultural 
insect was first observed in the Southern States. 
In a description of the imago and larva by Guenee, in his work 
on Noetuelites, Yol. I, p. 159, published at Paris in 1852, the gen¬ 
eral distribution of the moth of the grass worm is given, as known 
at that time. 
In the Patent Office Report for 1855, is an article by Townend 
Glover on Cotton Insects, containing a somewhat extended account 
of this species under the title of “grass worm” or “grass caterpil¬ 
lar,” but without scientific name. A description of the larva and 
moth are given, and figures of these and also of the chrysalis. A 
valuable account of the habits of the larvae in Georgia, of their in¬ 
juries to vegetation, and of their destruction by ants is also given 
in this article. 
The earliest notice of the occurrence of this species in. the Valley 
of the Mississippi with which I am acquainted, is contained in the 
first report of Mr. C. Y. Riley, as State Entomologist of Missouri 
[1868]. On page 87 of this report he mentions the injuries to wheat 
due to this insect, (especially to wheat sown upon oat stubble), and 
makes some suggestions of preventive measures against its attacks 
in future. The farmers of this region, however, reported to him that 
the same insect had been known to attack the wheat in the fall, 
for many years previous. Mr. Riley uses no technical name in this 
article, but calls the larva the “wheat cutworm.” 
The earliest mention of its occurrence as an injurious species in 
Illinois, was made by Walsh and Riley, who in a paper on the 
boll worm or corn worm (Heliothis armigera ), published in the 
American Entomologist for November, 1869 (Yol. II, p. 42) report 
having received our species from Tuscola, in Central Illinois. Not 
recognizing it, they regarded it as a new species of Prodenia, and 
proposed for it the nam e-Prodenia daggyi. They reported it. as feed¬ 
ing externally upon the leaves of corn, and likewise eating into the 
heart of the young plant. 
On page 328 of the same volume, Riley reports the receipt from 
many parts of Missouri and Illinois of the “fall army worm, its 
injuries being most marked in the northeastern part of Missouri- 
He here distinguishes the species from the true army worm, adds 
several plants to its dietary, and doubtfully identifies it with the 
species previously called by him the “wheat cutworm.” 
