On Certain Grass-Eating Insects. 49 



delicate fringes on the outer margins. The fringes usually 

 have a metallic luster. The antennae are nearly as long as 

 the body and verj^ slender. The male antennae are the stouter 

 (PI. IX, Fig. 18). The eggs of the various species exhibit 

 great uniformity (PI. XII). They are more or less oval, and 

 have ten to twenty longitudinal ridges and numerous smaller 

 transverse ridges. When first laid the eggs are nearly white, 

 but before hatching they change to a more or less reddish 

 color and in one species they become bright scarlet. The larvae 

 are about one twenty-fourth of an inch long when first 

 hatched. They usually have dark colored heads and a straw 

 colored body with rows of dark colored tubercles. Upon the 

 head and tubercles small hairs occur. In the different stages 

 of growth the larvae change in size and depth of coloring, the 

 whole bod^^ usually becommg much darker. When full grown 

 the larvae- are from one to two inches long. 



Habits. — Members of this genus fly mostly on dull afternoons 

 and during the early evening. They frequent open fields and the 

 borders of woods. When disturbed the moths rarely fly more 

 than two or three rods at a time. They alight with a peculiar 

 swoop upon a dried stalk of grass, with their heads usually down. 

 These insects dislike a horizontal position very much and will fly 

 some time rather than light upon a flat surface. When at rest 

 upon a stalk of grass the moths are rather diflacult to see, as their 

 color harmonizes with their surroundings. So far as is known 

 most of the species live upon grass, including under this term 

 corn, oats, and wheat. Some species may live 

 upon sedges and other coarse grass-like plants. 

 The eggs are usually, if not always, allowed to 

 fall at random in the grass. They hatch in from 

 ten to twenty days. The young larvae live in 

 cylindrical web-lined nests (Fig. 3.) the outside of 

 which is covered with bits of grass or particles of 

 , soil. The nests are usually perpendicular and at 



, — Nesl of J r r 



. c. inter- or iust below the surfacc of the soil. The larvae 



minellns, enlarged. , 



(Fig. 4) feed mostly in the early evenmg. Some 

 larvae cut off the blades of grass and draw the end down into the 

 nest so they can feed without leaving the nest. In the early 

 fall the larvae close the tops of their nests before going into 



