LEPIDOPTERA. 351 



top of the back; and the head, belly, and feet are tawny. 

 The lateral black stripe is worthy of attentive examination. 

 It consists of nnmcrous transverse black marks, somewhat like 

 Eunic letters, on a pure white ground; but the white ground, 

 when seen without a glass, seems blue, by contrast with the 

 black characters. Dr. Melsheimer calls this the zebra-cater})illar, 

 on account of its stripes. It comes to its full size here in 

 September, and then measures about two inches in length. 

 Early in October it leaves off eating, goes into the ground, 

 changes to a shining brown chrysalis, and is transformed to a 

 moth about the first of June. It is probable that there are 

 1r\vo broods of this kind of caterpillar every summer, in some, 

 if not all parts of this country; for Dr. Melsheimer informs 

 me that it appears in Pennsylvania in June, goes into the 

 ground and is changed to a chrysalis towards the end of June 

 or the beginning of July, and comes forth in the moth state 

 near the end of August. The moth may be called Mamestra 

 picta, the painted Mamestra, in allusion both to the beautiful 

 tints of the caterpillar, and to the softly blended shades of 

 dark and light brown with which the fore wings of the moth 

 are colored. It is of a light brown color, shaded with purple 

 brown ; the ordinary spots on the fore wings, with a third oval 

 spot behind the round one, are edged with gray; and there is 

 a transverse zigzag gray line, forming a distinct W in the 

 middle, near the outer hind margin. The hind wings are 

 white, and faintly edged with brown around the tip. It is 

 evident that this insect cannot be included in either of the 

 foregoing groups of the owlet-moths. It belongs to a distinct 

 family, which may be called Mamestrad-E, or Mamestrians. 

 The caterpillars in this group are generally distinguished by 

 their bright colors; they live more or less exposed on the leaves 

 of plants, and transform in the ground. The moths fly by 

 night only; most of them have the thorax slightly crested; 

 and they are easily known by the zigzag line, near the outer 

 hind margin of the fore wings, forming a W or M in the middle. 

 As the caterpillar of the painted Mamestra does not seek 

 concealment, it may easily be found, and destroyed by hand. 



