158 OWLET-MOTHS. 
the apple. Persons not familiar with such harmless beings: 
as caterpillars are apt to call this one a most hideous look- 
ing object, especially if they happen to disturb it ever so 
slightly; in this case the worm will raise the front part of 
the body back to the abdominal feet, and thresh it violently 
from side to side, in fact, its head shakes nearly all the time, 
like a person withthe palsy. To heighten the effect the cater- 
pillar carries a string of cast heads upon some very longand 
stiff hairs just behind the head. The caterpillar has head 
and adjoining segment black; segments 3 and 4 vellow with 
black points; segments 5, 6, and 7 are brown varied with 
white and 8, 9 and 10 are white, 11, 12 and 13 are brown- 
ish-black. The body is very deeply incised between the seg- 
ments, and the abdominal feet are long, especially the first 
two pairs. Segments 6 and 12 are much produced dorsally, 
being very pointed; this, together with the habit of arching 
the body between the anterior feet and the long abdominal 
ones, causes it to present a very irregular and jagged out- 
line. The caterpillar eats a hole of the diameter of its body 
into soft wood, and in it changes to a pupa. 
The moth is one of the most distinct and striking ones 
of all North American noctuids, possessing three round 
and brown patches on each wing. 
The insect is not common enough to cause much injury. 
All the noctuid mentioned thus far resemble bombycid 
caterpillars, being hairy, even possessing pencils and tufts 
of hairs, and spinning a cocoon. Most of the noctuid cat- 
erpillars described hereafter are genuine noctuid caterpillars, 
and are frequently called ‘‘Cut-worms.” 
Most cut-worms hide in the ground during the day and 
do not commence to feed until night, when low-growing 
plants are attacked. Some, however, have developed a 
climbing tendency, and make their way upon trees and 
shrubs to eat the young shoots and buds. Whenever 
such climbing cut-worms are at all numerousin our orchards 
and fruit-gardens they can cause great destruction, and we 
