MOTHS AT THE FHtESIDE. 69 



FIG. 23. — THE POTATO-WORM LARVA OF S. QUINQUE-MAOULATA. 



"Hi !" cried Dan, sitting bolt upright on his cricket, 

 " doan' mean ter say, Mars Mayfiel', dat daVs de nas'y 

 big green catumpill'r 't eats de tater wines? 'Taint 

 nothin' like it, shore !" 



"Yes, Dan, this is the potato-worm, the tomato- 

 worm, or the tobacco-worm, just as you choose to call 

 it. You all know it — a large green caterpillar, with a 

 kind of thorn on the tail, and oblique, whitish stripes on 

 the side of the body. It grows to the thickness of the 

 fore-finger, and the length of three inches or more 

 (Fig. 23). It comes to its full size from the middle of 

 August to the first of September, then crawls down the 

 stem of the plant, and buries itself in the ground. 



