The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1881-05-25
ARMY WORM.
How it is devastating parts Of
New York.
The most approved manner
Of tion.
From the Albany Evening journal.

The dreaded army worm has made its
appearance in St. Lawrence county, and
| it is feared that the destroyers will cover
the whole northern part of the State, and
perhaps other parts of it. The worm is a
small grayish caterpillar, which, when
touched, falls from the hand and curls
itself in spiral form. or else immediately
disappears in the ground.
The farmers have been taken unaware
The enemy has stolen upon them like a
thief in the night. Hundreds of acres have
already been eaten over, and with many
farmers it has become a question as to
what they shall do with their dairtes. 1t
is quite possible that the cold, wet weather
may diminish the number and check the
ravages of these worms
1t is said that in some instances grass
lands eaten over have started up again,
from which it is hoped the damage may
not prove to be SO great as is feared at
present.
The army worm first made its appear
ance in New England in 1743. In 1870
its ravages were most disastrous, covering
the sides of houses in such compact col
umns that nothing of the boards or shin
giles could be seen. Pumpkin vines peas
and potatoes escaped, but wheat and corn
disappeared like magic. Again in 1861
they spread over the country, abounding
throughout most of the Middle States,
though not as numerous as before, Last
year they invaded the farms of Long Island
New Jersey and Connecticut. The invasion
was first noticed the beginning of June on
a farm near Islip, L. l.
The life history of the insect is brief
lp told as follows: The eggs are depos-
tied in rows of from five to twenty, be-
tween the sheoth and stalk of grasses,
at about the time of the starting of vegeta
usually in the month of April, by
the moths which have survived the winter.
The eggs are glistening white when first
laid; toward maturity they become dull
and yellowish. The cater-pillars emerge
from the egg in about ten days and in
crease rapidly in size, SO that they undergo
five moultings at intervals averaging three
days Many of the larvae have now, May
Is, passed the third moult. When fully
grown they measure from II to inches in
length, and are about as thick as a goose
quill, color a lighter or darker gray, two
lateral stripes, the upper with yellowish
central line, the lower reddish one; legs
sixteen, six true, eight abdominal and two
anal; head brownish and shining; a few
short hairs on the body, longer ones about
the head. They hide during the day, feed
ing at night Their food plants are natur
ally the grasses and grains. Last year
they usually appeared first in fields of
wheat, occasionally in blue grass and tim
othy, seldom in any other cultivated crop.
When on the march they attack preferably
the cereals, timothy, blue grass and corn.
The earliest worms acquire full growth
and commerce to travel in armies about the
time that Winter wheat is in the milk.
They soon afterwards descend into the
ground, change into mahogany brown pu-
pe and appear again three weeks later as
yellowish drab-colOred moths, wings ex-
panding an inch and three-fourths. The
number of generations of the worm in a
season varies greatly with the climate. In
this northern climate there is usually but
one, while in the Southern States there are
two or three.
Their approach may be guarded against
by springling belt of land over which
they are likely to pass with solution of
paris green or arsenic. thrown with force
pump Of course animals must not be al
lowed to feed on the grass, and when dam
ger from the worm is passed, the land
should be plowed.