CONTRIBUTION TOWARD A MONuClUrM OF THK INSECTS OF TIIK 

 LFIMDOPTFltOUS FAMILY iNoCTUID.E OF TEMPERATE NORTH 

 AMERICA -REVISION OF THE SPECIES OF THE GENUS AGROTIS. 



The gemis Agroiis embraces rnotbs of medium size as a rule, and many 

 of them of tlie typical " Owlet" type. The caterpillars of many of the 

 species arc very injurious to cultivated ])lants, aiul come under the* 

 general head of " Cut- Worms," a name given tiiein from their habit of 

 cutting off, just at the surface of the ground, tlie i)lants upon which 

 they feed. The genus Agrotis, our American species alone considered, 

 has but two charUcters common to all forms: the eyes are naked and 

 the middle and posterior tibi;e are always si)inose! Beyond this, and 

 exclusive of the family characters, there is the widest possible diver- 

 gence in structure. The head may be rather small, retracted, buried 

 iii the vestiture, or it may be large and distinct; the eyes may be large 

 and prominent, or they may be small and reniform; the front may be 

 Hat or bulging, smooth or roughened, or with a tuberculate protuber- 

 ance; the pali)i may be short and weak, long and slender, smoothly 

 scaled or moderate, robust, with heavy vestiture, making the second 

 joint appear more or less clavate. The tongue is always at least mod- 

 erately strong, as is the case usually' in the Noclnida: The anteniuc may 

 be entirely simple in both sexes, or the niale may have them ciliated 

 merely, serrated with lateral bristly tufts, or they may be lengthily 

 pectinated. The thorax may be depressed above, flattened, or it may 

 be robust, strongly convex; the vestiture may be scaly or hairy or a 

 mixture of both ; it may be smooth, flattened, glistening, or it may be 

 rough, divergent, and loose; it may form a basal tuft merely, an ante- 

 rior and posterior tuft, a simple ridge like, or divided anterior crest, or 

 it may have the anterior divided crest and posterior tuftings as well. 

 The abdou^en may be depressed, flattened, truncated posteriorly, or it 

 may be stout, cylindric, conic, with pointed tip. The middle and pos- 

 terior tibiic are always spinose; the anterior tibia? may be entirely un- 

 armed, they may be sparsely spinose, heavily spined at sides and tip, 

 of full length, or shortened, broad, and flat. The primaries may be 

 long and narrow, short and wide, a[)ices rounded or ai)ices produced. 

 In habitus they may be somber, depressed, resembling Xylina, or they 

 may be bright, lively in colors, resembling Ucliothis. Some are strictly 



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