51 



its destructiv^ene.ss that season, it received considerable attention at this 

 office as well as elsewhere, and will be given more extended notice in 

 a future bulletin. 



DESCRirTIVE. 



Tlic tnoth which produces this cutworm is a rather large species of 

 the fainily Noctuida*. The fore-wings are ptde, gra^'ish l)rown, tinged 

 with reddish and shaded al)Out the middle and toward the outer margin 

 with darker brown, the pattern being variable, but more or less like 

 the form illustrated in figure 17, a. The ground color of the hind- 

 wings is iridescent or pearly white, strongly shaded about the mar- 

 gins with shining, light brown, the veins being of the same color and 



Fig. Vi.—Pcridroma saacia: a, moth; 6, uurmal form of larva, lateral 

 view; c, same in curved position; d, dark form, dorsal view; c, egg 

 from side; /, egg mass on twig (after Howard). 



strongly marked. The wing-expanse is about an inch and three- 

 (juarters, and the length of the body three-fourths of an inch. 



T/w eg<js are deposited in regular masses and often in rows of seven 

 or eight or to the number of sixty or more, preferal)l3' it appears, 

 along the twigs of certain fruit trees since egg-masses are often found 

 in such locations. An Q^^<g is shown in prolile, very much enlarged, at 

 figure IT, c^, and an egg-mass deposited on a twig aty. 



Tits larva. — The larva is very variable, but can usualh^ lie distin- 

 guished by a row of from four to six yellow rounded spots which 

 occur along the back at the middle of the anterior portion of the body, 

 extending usually from the second to the fifth or seventh segment, as 

 shown in the illustration at 1> and d ; d shows a dark form, while a 



