from these insects. Where everything has been destroyed, a thorough
ploughing is desirable. Swine may also be driven in during autumn, and
will grub up and devour the caterpillars. In this case, sowing will take
place the following spring.
Other _Surface Caterpillars_, which have pretty much the same habits as
the preceding, are those of the =Heart and Dart Moth= (_Agrotis
exclamationis_), the =Wheat Moth= (_A. tritici_), and the =Thick-bodied
Surface Caterpillar= (_A. ravida_ or _A. crassa_).
The =Cabbage Moth= (_Mamestra brassicæ_).
_Moth_ (Fig. 100); about ¹¹⁄₁₂ of an inch long, span of wing 1⅗ inch.
Fore wings shining brown, with yellowish and black marbling; each patch
having a dark outline; a yellowish zigzag line on the outer margin. Hind
wings shining yellowish-grey brown. A strongly developed crest in the
middle line of the thorax. _Caterpillar_ (Fig. 100): 1⅗ inches,
cylindrical. Bright or dark green, brownish green, or greenish brown. On
the back a dark longitudinal stripe, divided into two halves by a narrow
white longitudinal line. A whitish line running along each side; between
this and the dorsal line a dark transverse streak on each segment. The
brown pupa (Fig. 100) remains in the soil during the winter, and is not
invested in a cocoon. The moth appears in May; during the day it rests
on windows, in barns, etc. The greenish yellow eggs are laid separately
on the leaves of cabbages (sometimes also on lettuces and turnips). The
caterpillars, which appear in fourteen days, creep about actively
between the leaves. Within a month they are full-grown, and become pupæ
in the soil. At the end of July and in August the summer generation of
moths appears. From the eggs laid by these are hatched a second
generation of caterpillars, which are always much more numerous than
those of the first. From August to October they are found in all kinds
of cabbage, especially compactly headed kinds and cauliflower. At first
they eat holes in the leaves, leaving, however, the chief veins and
usually the edges. Later on they eat right on into the heart of the
cabbage. They fill their burrows with excrement, and the attacked plants
begin to rot internally. The full-grown caterpillars creep out and
become pupa in the soil. _Remedy_: Collecting the caterpillars while
they are still on the outer leaves.
[Illustration:
FIG. 100.—The Cabbage Moth (_Mamestra brassicæ_), with caterpillar and
pupa.
]
The =Vegetable= or =Lettuce Moth= (_Mamestra oleracea_).
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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