74. MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES. 
lamp in Ohio and Massachusetts in August. Some species of Plusia 
have no metallic spots but are rich in their reddish-brown shadings. 
In Plusia wrea the upper wings are purplish-brown. Head and 
forward part of thorax yellowish, dark gray above. Body yellowish- 
gray. Lower wings dark brown, lighter next to body. Expanse one 
and one-half inches. 
Eucirredia pampina has upper wings and thorax reddish-orange 
with brown markings. Lower wings and body pinkish-gray.  [Ex- 
panse of wings one and one-half inches. This is a common httle 
moth in autumn, and is often taken while sugaring for Catocala. 
In the species of the genus Gortyna the larvee are stalk-borers, 
living in the stalks of both wild and cultivated plants, and some- 
times doing considerable damage to the potato, tomato, Indian corn, 
etc., causing the plants to wither and die. 
Gortyna nitela. 
In Gortyna nitela the fore wings are purplish-gray stippled with 
yellow, a light line running across them. The lower wings are light 
brown. The larva is pinkish-brown, darker toward the head and is 
marked with light yellowish-white stripes. This species is fre- 
quently destructive to the dahlia and aster, passing its larval state 
within the stems of these plants and devouring their substance. 
The insect pupates just below the surface of the ground, where it 
constructs a slight cocoon. The moth appears in September. 
Cucullia speyeri. 
Cucullia speyert is a gray moth with slender pointed upper wings 
marked with brown, the lower wings being white, margined with 
