404 



The Moths and Butterflies 



^3^r4 



rs 

 ml 

 m- 



dagger-moth Acronycta (Figs. 586 and 587), so called from the rather uncer- 

 tain small black dagger-like markings of the fore wings, have the larva in 

 some species covered with long colored stiff hairs; the familiar caterpillar 



of .1. amerkana is densely clothed with 



yellow hairs, besides bearing a pair of 



long black pencils on the first abdominal 



segment, another pair on the third, and 



■'"■'' a single pencil on the eighth. It feeds on 



^ J the leaves of elm, maple, and other trees, 



and when at rest curls sidewise on a leaf. 



The army-worm (Fig. 583), a black, 



yellow, and green striped cater|)illar 



that occurs over nearly all the country 



and often appears in enormous numbers, 



causing great losses to grain-fields, is 



the larva, of a dull-brown moth, Lcu- 



cania unipuncla, marked in the center 



^'^A;;^;:rt :^s.:. l^t -' -^l^ f°- --^ -''^ a distinct white 

 subcostal vein; r, radial vein; m, spot. Perhaps as severe a sutTcrer as 

 medial vein; c cubital vein; a, anal ^^., ojher field product from the attacks 

 veins. (After Comstock; enlarged.) / , , . ^1 



of Noctuid larvK is cotton. The cotton- 

 worm, Alelia argillacea, feeds on the foliage of the cotton-plants and the cotton 

 boll-worm, Hcliotliis armigera, attacks the cotton pods or bolls. These two 

 caterpillars cause losses to the cotton-growing states of millions of dollars 



. "» r'»y»»m<*t.*-«*-^. 



Fig. 585. Fig. 586. 



Fig. 585. — Larva; of the gray dagger-moth, Acronycta occidenlalis. (.After Lugger; 



natural size.) 

 Fig. 586. — Gray dagger-moth, Acronycta occidentalis. (.After Lugger; natural size.) 



every year. The cotton boll-worm is more or less familiar in states farther 

 north, under the name of corn-worm, where it is found feeding on ears of 

 green corn and on tomatoes. It is a naked, greenish-brown, dark -striped 

 caterpillar. The moth has pale clay-yellow fore wings with a greenish tint, 

 the hind wings paler. 



Among the most conspicuous of all the caterpillars are the not unfamiliar 

 larva; of the tussock-moths, Lymantriida;, one common species infesting our 



