108 
including a fine white line. Very constant are the eight black 
spots or tubercles upon each abdominal segment; four of them 
are upon the back and four upon the sides. On the second and 
third thoracic joints these setigerous spots are arranged in a 
single transverse row. Some of these caterpillars are almost 
immaculate. They measure, when fully grown, a little more 
than one inch and a quarter. When mature they leave the 
corn-cob by a circular hole in the husk, and descend to the 
ground to pupate. Here they form an oval earthen cocoon 
held together by a few silken threads. Inside these cells they 
change to a light mahogany-brown pupa, the last segment of 
which is equipped at the apex with two long and slender spines, 
very characteristic of this species. The pupa measures seven- 
tenths of aninch. An illustration is given in fig. 54, on plate 
11, of moth, (the upper one), larva and empty pupal skin. 
ENEMIES. 
These disgusting worms, though so well hidden by the husks 
of corn or inside the cotton boll, do not escape such insects as 
usually prey upon caterpillars. Very often the great friend of 
farmers, the Tachina-fly, utilizes these fat caterpillars as a liv- 
ing cradle for its own young, and the caterpillar, instead of 
producing a moth, is the home of a number of maggots, which 
transform into large flies, larger thanthe common house-fiy, 
and these make it their business to search for other caterpillars 
in which to raise their offspring. The Tachina-fly, having dis- 
covered a caterpillar, buzzes around the same until it succeeds 
in fastening an oval china-like egg near the head of the victim, 
from which soon after a maggot issues, which enters the host. 
The caterpillar seems to know all about its enemy, and 
Squirms about in a most lively fashion to drive it away, but in 
vain. The maggot or maggots, onceinside the body of their 
host, feed at first upon the fatty tissues stored up for future 
use, and do not attack the vital organs until nearly mature. 
When this stage is reached the maggots force their way out of 
the dying caterpillar, drop to the ground, enter the same, and 
contract to reddish brown barrel-like objects, inside of which the 
true pupa is formed. Soon afterwards a new generation of 
Tachina-flies is ready to again assist the farmer. 
Other parasites, no doubt, also help us to keep the tassel- 
worms in check. Cannibal insects, such as the beneficial lady- 
