130 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



large and transverse. Body with some sparse long dusky hairs, 6-8 times 

 as long as wide, a little tapered toward the head. Spins a thread. Legs 

 and prolegs nearly immaculate. 



It is probably the same larva that has been described by a correspon- 

 dent as of "a light yellowish- green color, nearly translucent, with a few 

 scattered hairs, and when mature, about an inch and a quarter long." 

 Another, writing of the same insect, characterizes it as follows : " When 

 from one-fourth to one-half an inch long, they are of a whitish color, 

 dotted transversely with blackish spots, and the head of a dull brownish, 

 color. When grown to a little less than an inch, their color changes — 

 in white-meated melons to a light green, in yellow-fleshed varieties to a 

 darker green, and spots giving way to hnes of more or less intense green 

 color. The head is armed with stout jaws, and becomes more or less 



dark brown. 



Description of the Moth. 



Where the insect is prevalent it is important that the appearance of 

 the moth should be known, so that when they are frequenting the melon 

 and cucumber fields for the purpose of depositing their eggs, they may 

 be captured in nets and destroyed. It is probable, that after the habit 

 of most of the family {Pyraustidce) to which it belongs, that its flight com- 

 mences at about sunset, but that it is readily driven up from repose on 

 the lower surface of leaves at any hour of the day. The figure above 

 given, in connection with the following description by Riley will render 

 it easily recognizable : 



It is of a yellowish-brown color, with an iris-purple reflection, the front 

 wings having an irregular, semi-transparent, dull golden-yellow spot, not 

 reaching their front edge, and constricted at their lower edge; and the 

 hind wings having the inner two-thirds of this same semi-transparent 

 yellow. The under surfaces have a more decided pearly lustre. The 

 thighs, the breast, and the abdomen below, are all of a beautiful silvery- 

 white, and the other joints of the long legs are of the same tawny or 

 golden-yellow as the semi-transparent parts of the wings. The abdomen 

 of the female terminates in a small flattened black brush, squarely 

 trimmed, and the segment directly preceding this brush is of a rust-brown 

 color above. The corresponding segment in the male is, on the con- 

 trary, whitish anteriorly and of the same color as the rest of the body 

 posteriorly, and he is, moreover, at once distinguished from the female 

 by the immense brush at his tail, which is generally much larger than 

 represented in the above figure, and is composed of narrow, lengthened 

 [Hgulate) scales, which remind one of the petals of the common 

 English daisy, some of these scales being whitish, some orange, and 

 others brown. 



