Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1914-07-25
ARMY WORM is KEPT DOWN
ONLY BY NATURAL ENEMIES

destroyed by their insect enemies.
Large numbers are always destroyed
by the predaceous ground-beetles and
their larvae, but their most deadly
enemies are the tachina-fiies. These
lay from a dozen to fifty eggs on a
caterpillar. and the maggots 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 march
ing habit is assumed the flies swarm
around them on cloudy days, and be-
fore the next year they again have
the remnants of the voracious army
under subsection. Therefore. worms
with the tachina-fiy eggs on them
should never be destroyed where
avoidable.
How to Control the Worm.
When detected. all efforts should be
centred on keeping the worms out Of
crops not yet attacked and combining
their injury to as small an area as
possible. AS a barrier to their prog
gress there is nothing better than
dust furrow, two or three of which
may be found necessary in cool
weather or where a fine dust cannot
be maintained.
Deep fall blowing and thorough
narrowing will be effective against
the alternating larvae. as will the
burning of all grass along bitches,
fences and spots where the larvae
normally live.
By thorough spraying, or. perhaps,
better by dusting strip of the crop
with paris green or some arsenical,
and literally distributing poison bran
mash, large numbers may be de-
stroyed. Where they are massed in
burrows they may be destroyed by
spraying them with pure kerosene or
crude petroleum.
AS in fighting cinch- bugs. the army
worm must be given immediate and
conclusive combat if the loss Of crops
is to be prevented, for they move
rapidly and destroy all in their path.
The Fall Army Worm.
Z Though somewhat the same in its
habits as the true army worm, the
fall army worm is so called because
it appears later in the season, the
former species being rarely injurious
after August L 1t is also more ON
nivorous, for, while the army worm
prefers grasses and grains the fall
army worm feeds upon a large va
riety of crops, including sugar beets,
COW peas, millet. sweet potatoes and
many other forage and truck crops.
In Nebraska and the Central West
ii is a serious pest Of alfalfa, and
is called the alfalfa worm. 1t is also
sometimes very destructive to lawns,
as was the case in Chicago in 1899
The fall army worm is more of a ma
tive of the Southern States. but oc-
ours from Canada to the Gulf and
west to the Rockies.
At first glance the caterpillars have
much the same general appearance
as the army worm, but closer exam
nation reveals marked differences.
Along each side of the body is a
longitudinal pitch colored stripe, and
along the middle is a yellowish-gray
stripe, about twice as wide, which in
eludes four black dots on each seq
ment
History of Fall Army Worm.
The winter is passed in the pupal
state, the pupae being about one half
inch long and being found in cells
one-quarter to one half an inch be-
low the surface. The moths emerge
in the spring and the females lay
their eggs on grass in clusters of fifty
o. more, each mass being covered
with the mouse-colored hairs from the
body of the female. The eggs hatch
in about ten days and the caterpillars
are found during May and June. The
complete life history of the insect has
NOT been carefully followed, but it
seems probable that there are but two
complete generations in the North,
TIN ee generations in the latitude of
Central and Southern Illinois and the
District of Columbia, and four in the
extreme South. In any event, the
destructive brood of caterpillars APP
pears in August and early September.
The parent moth is of a general yell
lowish, ash-gray color. with the sec
ond pair of wings almost transparent,
but with purplish reflection. In ex-
tent of wings il measures about IA
inches, and when closed the length of
the insect is about three quarters OF
a. inch. The front wings are notified
OF marbled, especially near the CEN
trail area. and usually there is visible
a fine white line a short distance from
| the edge and parallel to it. The hind
wirgs have fringe of darker hair as
we'll as veins that contrast somewhat
with the lighter portion" -