LEPIDOPTERA. . 323 



length from one inch and a quarter to two inches, they were fully 

 grown, and buried themselves immediately in the earth with which 

 they were supplied. ,They were all thick, greasy-looking cater- 

 pillars, of a dark ashen gray color ; but I neglected at first to ex- 

 amine them carefully in order to see if they were marked exactly 

 alike. Some of the last found were observed to have one or two 

 blackish stripes on each side of the body, and a pale stripe on the 

 back, with four little black dots on each ring.- The head was 

 also blackish. They were soon changed to chrysalids, of a 

 shining mahogany-brown color ; and between the twentieth of 

 July and the fifteenth of August they came out of the ground in 

 the moth state. Much to my surprise, however, these cut-worms 

 produced five different species of moths ; and, when it was too 

 late, I regretted that they had not been more carefully examined, 

 and compared together before their transformation. 



The largest of these moths may be called Jlgrotis telifera, the 

 lance-rustic. It closely resembles Jlgrotis svffusa^ the dark 

 swbrd-rustic of Europe. The fore-wings are light brown, shaded 

 with dark brown along the outer thick edge, and in the middle 

 also in the female ; these wings are divided into three nearly 

 equal parts by two transverse bands, each composed of two wavy 

 dark brown lines ; in the middle space are situated the two ordi- 

 nary spots, together with a third oval spot, which touches the an- 

 terior band ; these spots are encircled with dark brown, and the 

 kidney-spot bears a dark brown lance-shaped mark on its hinder 

 part ; the hindmost third of the wing is crossed by a broad ^pale 

 band, and is ornamented by a narrow wavy or festooned line, and 

 several small blackish spots near the margin. The hind-wings are 

 pearly white, and semitransparent, shaded behind, and veined 

 with dusky brown. The thorax is brown or gray-brown, with 

 the edge of the collar blackish. The abdomen is gray. The 

 wings expand two inches or more. 



Another of these moths is the counterpart of the cequa and 

 agricola of Europe. It also resembles the telifera in form, but is 

 destitute of the lance-shaped spot on the fore-wings ; and hence I 

 .have named it ^gratis inermis, the unarmed rustic moth. The 

 fore-wings are light brown, shaded in the middle and towards the 

 hinder margin with dusky brown ; they are crossed by four, more 



