440 L E P I D P T E R A . 



usual signs that the enemy is at work in tlie stalks, the spin- 

 dle-worms should be sought for and killed ; for, if allowed to 

 remain undisturbed until they turn to moths, they will make 

 their escape, and we shall not be able to prevent them from, 

 laying their eggs for another brood of these pestilent insects. 



A worm, or caterpillar, something like the spindle-worm, 

 has often been found by farmers in potato-stalks ; and the 

 potato-rot has sometimes been ascribed to its depredations. 

 On the 9th of July, 1848, one of these caterpillars was 

 brought to me in a potato-stalk from Watertown ; and on 

 the 5th of July, 1851, I found another within the stem of 

 the pig-weed, or Cltenopodium. These 

 ^^' " ■ caterpillars (Fig. 219) were of a livid 



gg msw^^^^l^ ^ hue, faintly striped with three whitish 

 ^^^^^^^^^^ lines along the back. Their transforma- 

 tions have not yet been observed. 



The roots of the Columbine are attacked by another cater- 

 pillar belonging to this family. It burrows into the bottom 

 of the stalk and devours the inside of the roots, which it 

 injures so much that the plant soon dies. One of these 

 caterpillars, which was found in July in the roots of a fine 

 double Columbine in my garden, was of a whitish color, Avith 

 a few black dots on each of the rings, a brownish head, and 

 the top of the first and of the last rings blackish. It grew to 

 the length of about one inch and a qviarter, turned to a 

 chrysalis on the 19th of August, and came out a moth on 

 the 24th of September. The moth closely resembles the 

 Gortyna flavago of Europe, but is sufficiently distinct from 

 it. It may be called Crortyna leucostigma, the white-spot 

 Gortyna. The fore wings are tawny yellow, sprinkled with 

 purple-brown dots, and with two broad bands and the outer 

 hind margin purple-brown ; there is a distinct tawny yellow 

 spot on the tip, followed by a row of faint yellowish crescents 

 between the brown band and margin ; the ordinary spots are 

 yellow, margined with brown, and there is a third oval spot 

 of a white color near the round spot. The hind wings are 



