OWLET-MOTHS. 155 
dark color of the body 1s plainly seen. The head is of ashin- 
ing black color, the upper portion partly hidden by the over- 
hanging hairs of the first segment. The cocoon which is 
rather tough, is made of leaves and bits of wood fastened 
together with silk; inside we find the brown pupa, from 
which emerges a gray moth, with gray fore-wings, mottled 
with spots, streaks and dots of darker shades of gray and 
brown; the hind-wings are of a dull, pale gray color, deepen- 
ing a little towards the outer margin. The underside of the 
moth is paler. With expanded wings it measures about an 
inch and a quarter across 
Fig. 155.—Acronycta impressa Walk; moth. Original. 
These caterpillars are found throughout the summer, as 
the two generations overlap somewhat. Hand-picking and 
the use of arsenical poisons will keep it in check. Moth and 
caterpillar are shown in Fig. 155 and 134. 
THE SMEARED DAGGER-MOTH. 
(Acronycta oblinita S. & A.). 
This moth does not show the usual mark of dagger- 
moths, hence the aboverather bad sounding name was given 
it by some writer. 
This conspicuous and very beautiful caterpillar is a hairy 
insect, very brightly colored and ornamented, and about an 
inch anda quarter long. Its color is deep velvety black, 
with a transverse row of tubercles on each segment, those 
above being bright red and set in a band of the same color, 
