140 FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OF THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



and hide beneath a leaf or upon a blade of grass, head downward, 

 where, from their manner of folding their wings about them, they al- 

 most escape observation. This attitude, at rest, is the explanation of 

 the name '' Close-iuings,'' sometimes applied to them in England. 



Sixty-four species of North American CramhidcB are catalogued by 

 Mr. Grote, more than half of which belong to the genus Crambus. A 

 common termination which usage has authorized for their specific 

 names, is ellus ; while in another division of the PyralidcB, viz., Pliy- 

 cidcB, the termination of ella has been adopted, and in the remaining 

 divisions, PyralididcB, etc., alls (unfortunately shared by the Deltoides 

 of the Noctuidce). 



Abundance of the Moths. 



But few additional moths emerged from my cocoons prior to the 

 15th of August ; from that time to the 25th by far the larger number 

 were disclosed. 



About the middle of August they were abundant in the localities 

 where their caterpillars had swarmed in May. Under date of August 

 19th, Mr. Adams wrote me from Watertowu : " The meadows and pas- 

 tures are now filling up with the moths, and in places they fly out in 

 small clouds." In a communication to the Watertoion Daily Times, 

 of August 22d, he writes : *' At this date, any farmer of the county 

 can walk his meadow or pasture and drive up moths in countless 

 numbers, or, in places, in a small cloud." This, it should be remem- 

 bered, is from a locality where the injuries done were moderate, com- 

 pared to portions of St. Lawrence county. They may, therefore, be 

 presumed to have been much more abundant there, but my only in- 

 formation relating to their appearance in that portion of the State is 

 from Miss A. Clarkson, of Potsdam, who, under date of September 

 6th, writes: "The moths for the last three weeks have been flying in 

 quantities, though much more abundant a few weeks ago than now. 

 At West Stockholm, a means was devised for destroying them. Barrels 

 were placed in the fields with water, on Avhich was poured kerosene 

 which was set on fire. The moths were attracted to the light and 

 vast numbers killed." 



Professor Riley, in a notice of the species, in the Ainerican Natu- 

 ralist of November last (p. 914), states : " The moth has been exces- 

 sively abundant all over the Eastern States this year, and as Mr 

 Henry Edwards informed us, proved a positive nuisance in collecting 

 in the neighborhood of New York city." 



