The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1880-07-10
The Army Worm.

mense numbers on Long Island, in many
towns in Connecticut and in New Bedford and
Springfield and other towns in Massach usetts
and which is doing vast amount of damage,
is species of caterpillar. 1t varies considera-
bly, in color and size, owing to age and To-
cality. The mature worm. according to Dr.
Fitch, is an inch or more in length and as
large round as a rye STEM The worms are of
all sizes, some of them just Matched being
scarcely perceptible. The worms are of a
gray color with three narrow yellowish stripes
above and broader one of the same color or
slightly darker on each side, thinly clothed
with short hairs. The head is honey-yellow,
with a network of fine dark brown lines and
a black line on the front like the letter re-
versed Some say that the army worms in
Connecticut have no hairs on them.
8 Their appearance is usually sudden and
their work is quickly done. At New Bedford,
at about halfpast two o'clock on Sunday
five and one-half acres, belonging to Otis A.
Sisson, near his residence at Sylvan Grove,
at six O'Clock the field was literally covered
with them, and apparently doomed to utter
destruction. A few hours earlier not worm
was to be seen, and their sudden appearance
is a mystery.
The worms eat rye, oats, grass and corn
with great avidity; but potatoe tops are not a
favorite food, and they sometimes, when not
too hungry, go around field. Tobacco is I'M
touched. A Westbrook, Conn, farmer saws
he has discovered that the worms are averse
to the heat OF the sun, and do the most of their
mischief in the early morning and the shades
of evening. He adds "They burrow into the
tender shoots, having ensconced themselves
therein. out OF the reach of the suns rays
keep up their eating until the stalk is hollow
and the life gone. They then get out of that
and crawl to the next stalk and if some other
worm has cleared that out ahead of them they
crawl on to find another not eaten.' Some Of
the fields look as if fire had passed over
them, and it is propable that the grass roots
are in many cases killed, making re-seeding
necessary. A farmer in Fairfield said
Carriage wheels are mufHed by the worms
passed over, so that the vehicle is noisless,''
A Tribune reporter was told by Connect
icut farmer that he counted forty-four worms
In the space which he covered by his hand,
and 527 in the space of one square foot. In
some places they get SO thick and grow so fast
that they more tn an cover the entire surface
OF the ground, and tumble over and over each
other, the whole soil seeming to be moving
mass of life. A farmer whose rye they had
eaten described their march as irresistible
ne tried to stop them or turn them aside, but
they made straight forward to the nearest
heritage. They climbed over stone fences. a
solid, squirming mass of gray, many yards wide
and the length of the whole obstruction.
covering it up like blanket. Sometimes
ohOJ iCdNO du cAuduSU6Q l6JQ ana lake TO the
road, as it under intelligent guidance, and
follow the road until another eligible field is
cached.
What measures can be taken against these
destructive creatures seems to be a matter not
thoroughly understood 1t is said that If a
couple OF burrows be run with pillow and the
side OF the trench toward the field that is to be
protected be followed with spade, the worms
are unable to crawl up this back sope. and
accumulate at the bottom of the ditch, where
tney may pc Killed from time to time, by
strewing straw or petroleum along upon them
and setting fire to them. Others max Q a toll,
cradle deep ditch with suitable depressions
into which the worms are swept and Killed by
pouring on kerosene oil Others still talk Of
salt put around the edge of the field. and saw
it makes barrier that for some reason is not
crossed. All these plans and others are flu
emily described, but it can not be found that
they have proved wholly satisfactory. The
trenching and killing with oil seems to give
the best results, but involves great deal of
labor. Where the field is smooth, rolling
with heavy roller is quite effective in des,
troying the worm.
After the crop is removed from field where
the worms are, hogs may be turned in, and
chickens, turkeys and ducks. ali of which
will search out and devour the worms, Sheen.
II the flock is large one, will kill many OF
the worms by trampling on them. if turned
into the field, and if crows and blackbirds nut
in an appearance they should not be molested,
- 10y "AAA S"o ehO SdtCI pillars Ill preference
to the grain.
whether the worms will appear in Maine or
not, OF course no one can tell. They have.
however, advanced northward rapidly since
they hrst appeared on Long Island, N. Y,
and have already appeared at Portsmouth. N
n 1t is quite probable that some portions of
our State will suffer from their rayages.
Prof. Y. v. Riley, who investigated the
ravages OF this pest in 1861, describes the pro-
genltor OF the army worm as light, reddish
w .noln ,,1<I T.
biologists as NobtuG anipuncta. The moths
tnat issue during the late summer and autumn
hibernate and deposit eggs as soon as yepeta-
ton starts in the spring. The eggs are thrust
IN between the sheath and stalks Of the we'll
grown grasses, whether cut or standing, and
on low bluegrass they are usually laid in the
fold at the base and junction of the terminal
leaf with the stalk. They are laid in rows of
from i've to twenty and upward and are ac-
companled by yiscid fluid, which CLUES them
70 each other and to the plant. The larva
matches from the eighth to to the tenth day
after the deposit of the eggs, and its develop
ment requires on an average only three weeks.
Prof. Riley says that although the travelling
sidered one of the principal characteristics of
this insect, 1T is nevertheless abnormal.
During the latter part of April and through.
out the month of May, in latitude thirty.nine
degrees, the worms may also be found in
TALLY the same habits as ordinary cut-worms.
and are seldom noticed unless they arc numer,
GUS enough to make their presence apparent
by bare patches in the grass. 1t is only when
hunger impels them that they vacate the fields
where they were born, and after thew have
once begun wandering they will Sometimes
pass through fields without eating everything
to the GROUND When travelling, Prof. RILEY
says the worm will scarcely turn aside for any,
thing but water, and even shallow water
courses will not check them, for the advance
columns will continue to rush headlong into
the water until they have SO choked it up
with their dead and dying bodies that those
behind pass safely over them.
The worm is preyed upon by several para
SITES Its worst enemy are the tachinid flies.
winch are often so numerous that their bur
zlng suggests swarm of bees. They attach
their eggs behind the heads of the army
worms, and are as persistent in this work as
the worms are restless under their attack.
The worms fall victims to the magyots Matched
from these eggs, which soon become flies like
their parents, Often eighty per cent of the
worms are thus parasititized Prof. Riley
enumerates several other parasites, and some
larger ichneumon flies that infest the worm.
These combine to so check their increase that
their second brood is seldom noticed when it |
Journal