FIELD BOOK OF INSECTS. 



Nubilis (Plate LIV) has been put in Euparthenos; it 

 feeds on locust. 



This species (Plate LIT) claims a para- 



abama graph because it got into the New York 



argillacea 



subways, and also newspapers, last year. 



It belongs 'way down South in the cotton fields where, 

 until the invasion of the boll weevil, it was Cotton's most 

 serious pest. Its breeding range is from Argentina to as 

 far north as cotton grows. The larvae are greenish, vari- 

 ously spotted or striped with black according to their age. 

 They feed on the cotton leaves, buds, and even tender 

 twigs, pupating in a thin cocoon made in a folded leaf. 

 Sanderson says: 'The moth is a dull olive-gray color 

 with a wing expanse of about i| inches, which sometimes 

 has a purple luster and which are marked with darker 

 lines. . . . Like most of the owlet moths it flies only 

 after sunset, but unlike them it is not confined to the 

 nectar of flowers for food, as its mouth is peculiarly adapted 

 to piercing the skin of ripe fruit and feeding upon its 

 juices." After stating that there are at least seven genera- 

 tions annually on the Gulf Coast and three at the northern 

 limit of the species, he notes that "if none were killed, the 

 progeny of a single moth after four generations would 

 amount to over 300,000,000,000 individuals, or if placed 

 end to end, the third generation would be enough to circle 

 the earth at the equator over four times." That is a 

 fairly good-sized "if," but make it much smaller and you 

 still have a sufficient reason for a considerable northward 

 migration. 



This large moth (Plate LIV) drifted into 



my Question Box because it was "big 



enough to be a Saturniid but isn't in the 



book" one concerning the Saturniidas, etc., of the vicinity 



of New York City. Size does not always count. This 



Noctuid does not belong in the North although, being a 



strong flier, it gets even into Canada. Holland records 



its having been found in a snow-storm at Leadville, 



Colorado. All the northern captures I know about were 



females in September. Although I have seen it flying 



182 



