342 INSECTS INJUKIOUS TO VEGETATION. 



the tender stems and lower leaves of young cabbages, beans, 

 corn, and other herbaceous plants. These subterranean cater- 

 pillars are finally transformed to moths belonging to a group 

 which may be called Agrotidians (Agrotidid^e), from a word 

 signifying rustic, or pertaining to the fields. Some of these 

 rustic moths fly by day, and may be found in the fields, es- 

 pecially in the autumn, sucking the honey of flowers; others 

 are on the wing only at night, and during the day lie concealed 

 in chinks of walls and other dark places. Their wings are 

 nearly horizontal when closed, the upper pair completely cover- 

 ing the lower wings, and often overlapping a little on their 

 inner edges, thus favoring these insects in their attempts to 

 obtain shelter and concealment. The thorax is slightly con- 

 vex, but smooth or not crested. The antennse of the males 

 are generally beset with two rows of short points, like fine 

 teeth, on the under side, nearly to the tips. The fore legs are 

 often quite spiny. Most of these moths come forth in July 

 and August, and soon afterwards lay their eggs in the ground, 

 in ploughed fields, gardens, and meadows. In Europe it is 

 found that the eggs are hatched early in the autumn, at which 

 time the little subterranean caterpillars live chiefly on the roots 

 and tender sprouts of herbaceous plants. On the approach of 

 winter they descend deeper into the ground, and, curling them- 

 selves up, remain in a torpid state till the following spring, 

 when they ascend towards the surface, and renew their de- 

 vastations. The caterpillars of the Agrotidians are smooth, 

 shining, naked, and dark-colored, with longitudinal pale and 

 blackish stripes, and a few black dots on each ring; some of 

 them also have a shining, horny, black spot on the top of the 

 first ring. They are of a cylindrical form, tapering a little at 

 each end, rather thick in proportion to their length, and are 

 provided with sixteen legs. They are changed to chrysalids 

 in the ground, without previously making silken cocoons. 

 The most destructive kinds in Europe are the caterpillars of 

 the corn rustic or winter dart-moth [Agrotis seg-etum), the 

 wheat dart-moth [Agrotis tritici), the eagle-moth [Agrotis 

 aquilina), and the turf rustic or antler-moth ( Char was grami- 



