Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1914-08-12
THE ARMY WORM.
HAS INVADED TOWNS IN HAN
COCK COUNTY.

DEMONSTRATION WORK, GIVES
TIMELY ADVICE.
The army worm is reported from several
sections Of Hancock county. The greatest
damage SO far done is at Lsmoine, where
a field of twenty-five acres of oats belong
ing 20 e. F., Fitzpatrick has been COM
pletely devastated.
Other sections from which the army
worm is reported are Stonington, Penob-
scot, Eden and Marlboro.
G. N. Worden, who is in charge of farm
demonstration work in Hancock county,
gives The AMERICAN the following in
teresting facts about the army worm-and
valuable and timely information to
farmers Of Hancock county as to how to
combat this hostile army If it comes their
way,
Almost every year some locality reports
serious injury to crops by armies OF cater
pillars, which have not been previously
known for years. This being the case, the
farmers are at loss to combat them, and
by the time information has been secured
the pests have completed the damage.
The army worm occurs throughout the
United States east Of the Rocky noun
tains, and lives in low, rank growths OF
grass, which form the normal breeding
grounds. When from an abundance Of
such food, or through failure Of the para
sites to prevent their increase, the cater
pillars become overabundant, they assume
the army habit, and march en- n,asse, con-
Stunning all in their path. The next year
their natural enemies will usually have
them under control again, and there will
be but little damage and they will mot be
observed as injurious for series OF years,
though the moths are always fairly COM
mon.
LIFE HISTORY.
The moths appear early in June, and the
females lay the small yellowish eggs in
rows Of from ten to fifty in the unfolded
bases Of the green leaves, covering them
with thin layer Of glue. Over 700 may
be deposited by one female, SO that when
the young caterpillars hatch in about ten
days, the progeny of few moths form
quite destructive army.
The worms usually feed entirely at
night, and thus whole fields will
sometimes be ruined before they are dis
covered, though few generally feed by
day, as they all do in cloudy weather.
The leaves and stalks of grains and
grasses form their favorite food, the heads
usually being cut off, but various garden
crops are often seriously injured if they
happen in their path. Though usually
untouched, clover even is not exempt.
In from three to four weeks the worms
have become full grown and are then from
one and one-half to two inches long, of
dark gray or dingy black color, with three
yellowish, narrow stripes above, and
slightly broader darker one on each side,
quite resembling cut worms, to which
they are nearly related. They now enter
the earth and transform to pupae, from
which the adult moths emerge in about
two weeks. These lay eggs for another
brood OF worms which appear in Septem-
Der, but are very rarely injurious.
The moths which develop from this last
brood either hibernate over winter, or
deposit eggs, the larvae from which be-
come partially grown before cold weather
and then hibernate. In either case the
young larvae feed in the spring, not usu-
ally doing much damage, pupate in May
and the moths Of the first generation APP
pear in June as already described. Thus
in the North there are three broods year,
the young larvae usually alternating.
The moths very often fly into lights and
are among the commonest Of our plain
"millers". The front wings area clay or
fawn color, specked with black scales,
marked with darker shade or stripe at
the tips, and with a distinct spot at the
| center. The hind wings are somewhat
| lighter, with blackish veins and darker
| margins.
ENEMIES.
Were it not for other insects which prey
upon the army worm, the army habit
| would doubtless be more often assumed,
and we should have to deal with them
more frequently. Ordinarily, however,
the parasitic and predaceous insects hold
them in check very efficiently, and when
an outbreak does occur, the later broods
Of the same season are often entirely de-
stroyed by their insect enemies. Large
numbers are always destroyed by pre-
| daceous ground beetles and their Larvae,
but their most deadly enemies are the
tachina flies. These lay from dozen to
fifty eggs on a caterpillar, and the mag
gots from them enter the body and absorb
the juices and tissues of the host, thus
soon killing it.
When feeding at night, the worms are
ordinarily free from these parasites, but
when the marching habit is assumed, the
flies swarm around them on cloudy days,
and before the next year they again have
the remnants of the voracious army under
subsection. Therefore worms with the
tachina-fy eggs on them should never be
destroyed where avoidable.
CONTROL.
When detected, all efforts should be
centered on keeping the worms out OF
crops not yet attacked and combining their
injury to as small an area as possible. AS