302 
JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY 
[Vol. 13 
Mr. E. G. Kelly: I am deeply interested in this paper. In 1908, 
I went out to Kansas, and one of the first things I saw in an alfalfa 
field that had recently been cut was this green wriggly worm. I 
thought, from the numbers I saw on the ground after the alfalfa was 
removed, that a great deal of damage had been done or would be done 
by this species. Practically every year from that time up to the 
present, I have been in a lot of alfalfa fields, probably hundreds of 
them, and I have seen a lot of these worms; but this is the first record 
of devastation of which I have ever heard. 
Mr. W. E. Britton; Mr. Sherman is to be congratulated on the 
manner in which he handled the green clover worm on large areas of 
soy beans. I have had no experience in controlling a similar situation. 
An arsenical spray is without doubt the most effective and at the same 
time the least expensive treatment that could be practiced under such 
conditions, yet I would like to point out that occasionally there are 
cases where contact insecticides may be of value. Particularly in 
small bean patches in gardens, one hesitates to apply arsenate of lead 
to snap or string beans just before the crop is ready to harvest. On 
Lima beans or other beans to be shelled, of course there is no danger. 
These caterpillars are susceptible to the use of nicotine, and by spray¬ 
ing the under surface with nicotine solution, or even with common 
soap and water, many of them will be killed. A large proportion of 
them will drop to the ground when disturbed, and a forceful spray of 
water from the garden hose will dislodge many of them and injure 
them so that they will never find their way back to the foliage. 
I saw a good many garden patches in Connecticut last year where 
the caterpillars did not eat holes entirely through the leaves; they ate 
small holes from the under side leaving the upper epidermis, and you 
could see those shining spots on the leaves for some distance away. 
This form of injury was most common on Lima beans, but was also 
observed on common varieties of snap and shell beans. We noticed 
that a great many of the caterpillars of varying sizes turned yellow 
and appeared sickly; but we did not attempt to ascertain the cause. 
Mr. Alvah Peterson: In New Jersey, this insect was very serious 
this year, on Lima beans particularly. It was necessary to coat the 
under surface of the leaf as well as the upper surface in order to secure 
control, because the young worms did not eat through the leaf. They 
fed entirely on the under surface. 
Mr. F. L. Thomas: How does the insect pass the winter? 
Mr. Franklin Sherman: It passes the winter as an adult moth 
hibernating under loose bark, sheds, buildings, and any kind of shelter 
it can find; it is often collected under loose bark on trees. 
