138 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 Fes. 1900, | 
development. This was very noticeable in different stud wheats grown at the} 
Hermitage State Farm in rows side by side and sown at the same time. Ty) 
this instance such late varieties as Windsor Forest, New White Queen} 
Selected Square Head, Challenge White, and White Nursery were free fron} 
their attacks, whilst other more quickly maturing kinds growing near they} 
were attacked, amongst which latter may be mentioned Allora Spring, Budd} 
Early, and Gayndah No. 4. The moth usually selects the leaf-sheath| 
or the spot where the flag comes away from the stem, as the sit 
for its eggs. ‘When the female moth finds a stalk of grain or grass suited) 
for her purpose, she clasps it with her legs, and thrusts her oviposite;) 
into the unfolded base of the leaf or down into the sheath, where it surround} 
the stalk” (F. IL. Webster). Many eggs are laid together in one position at the| 
same time (vide fig.1, page 186). They are placed side by side in linear series of 2} 
or more, and enveloped in a sticky substance that causes them to remain adheren{} 
to the leaf surface on which they are placed and to one another. C. V. Riley state} 
that exceptionally these are laid “in the cut straw of old stacks, or in hayricks| 
or even in pieces of cornstalk in the field, or in stubble.’ These eggs, unde} 
favourable circumstances, hatch in about a week or fifteen days. The minut] 
caterpillars on hatching out feed at first on the shell of the egg whence they} 
have arisen, then on their leafy surroundings at the base of the flags, after) 
which they enter the innermost recesses of the plant (whence they may be} 
shaken out), or even rest immediately beneath it. During this time they} 
inflict no noticeable injury, so that their presence may not even be suse q 
Both now and ata later period in their growth, the caterpillars feed almost} 
wholly at night, especially during bright sunny weather. | When} 
however, rain prevails and the weather is overcast, they may crawl to the} 
most exposed portions of the plants whereon they occur, and feed also continuously 
(they will also similarly remain exposed when victimised by insect or parasites) 
or by disease). When disturbed, they immediately drop from where they) 
were previously feeding—the very young by a thread, the older without any,| 
Having fallen, they quickly roll themselves up with the head inwards, and) 
remain motionless, but after a minute or two they bestir themselves, and soon} 
crawl away. Should the plant on which they feed be isolated or offer little} 
concealment, they spend the day concealed in the nearest hiding-place they can} 
find, as under a stone or piece of wood; also when crawling from place to ae 
they will rest hidden beneath clods of earth or in such like places. When} 
disturbed, especially in cloudy weather, they will frequently, whilst resting on} 
their abdominal prolegs, elevate the forepart of their body, and move their| 
head to and fro with sudden jerks. This hee is their habit when attacked by} 
insect parasites, and with the presence of these they probably instinctively | 4 
associate every threatening danger. When developed to a third of their ultimate | 
size or more, they may travel extensively from plant to plant during) 
the hours of darkness. But when more fully grown they may supplement) 
these nocturnal excursions by much more general ones pursued during the} 
time daylight prevails. Referring to one of these excursions, Mr. Gj 
Anderson, of Oakey Creek, informed the writer as follows :—“ The caterpillars | 
appeared to occur throughout 70 acres of barley simultaneously. ‘Chey were i 
immense numbers. For three days they were upon the moye between the| 
hours of 12 and 3 on each occasion, the moving mass—for such was the 
appearance, due to their numbers—trayelling west.’ The.Brisbane Courier of | 
22nd March, 1898, referring to an occurrence of caterpillars in the Laidley | 
district, stated also as follows :—“Some parts of the district are being ravaged | 
by immense armies of caterpillars that march along and eat up grass, panicum, | 
and eyen tackle the maize. Some farms in their track have been completely | 
devastated.” When in the course of these general movements they have | 
occasion to cross land not occupied by the plants to which they are especially | 
artial, they will nibble others, and so injure them to a greater or less extent, 
Thus all the shoots of lucerne were seen to be destroyed in one instance in the 
Ma Ma Creek district; in another case nearly all the young. haulms of a 
