. Annual report of the Missouri State Board of Agriculture. Missouri. State Board of Agriculture; Agriculture -- Missouri. 270 MISSOURI AGRICULTURAL cell next to the plant is left open, so that the larva can go forth in search of its food and return when necessary. Frequently during the daytime, one searching for these insects will find pieces of grass leaves or even corn leaves with one end pulled into the open end of these cases, and in- side the larvae quietly feeding upon it. When full grown these sod wcb- worms are about one-half inch in length and are of a red or reddish Fig. 30
. Annual report of the Missouri State Board of Agriculture. Missouri. State Board of Agriculture; Agriculture -- Missouri. 270 MISSOURI AGRICULTURAL cell next to the plant is left open, so that the larva can go forth in search of its food and return when necessary. Frequently during the daytime, one searching for these insects will find pieces of grass leaves or even corn leaves with one end pulled into the open end of these cases, and in- side the larvae quietly feeding upon it. When full grown these sod wcb- worms are about one-half inch in length and are of a red or reddish Fig. 30.—The Striped Sod Web-Worm, brown color, with many dark, con- Crambus mutahilis. Adult Moth; en- larged about two diameters. spicuous, shiny spots Scattered over their bodies, each one bearing a rather stout hair. The work of these insects in the corn plant is similar to what I have described for the grass plant, except that where a corn field is very badly infested with the insects, we frequently find several of these larvae eating each plant in the badly infested areas. Occasionally they become so numerous in the corn field as to practically devour the entire corn plant, but this is unusual. In the great bulk of cases the larvae ?njore the plant and kill it by eating about the base of the roots and cutting the roois in two, or more frequently by eating off the young leaves and the stem, or feeding on the stem below ground or sometimes above it, as the case may be. In going through the corn fields infested with these insects, one will frequently find leaves or parts of leaves cut off and some of which will be found protrud- ing from the larvae cases above described. Of course, the work that these insects do in tlic grass lands continues throughout the summer, since we have some species with two broods, which follow each other so closely that the work is practi- cally continuous. In the corn field, however, the damage that these insects do is confined entirely, or nearly so a
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