222 



EXPERIMENTAL FARMS. 



64 VICTORIA, A. 1901 



that poisoned bran when used as directed is most efficacious ; that parasites are increas- 

 ing and will probably reduce the numbers of cutworms next season ; that from 

 good services rendered in devouring great numbers of these cutworms the crow 

 frequently so destructive to potatoes and other crops in this province, has this year 

 done the farmers good service.' — J. R. Anderson. 



• Pig. 12. — ^Variegated Cutworm : moth — twice natural size. 



DESCRIPTION OF THE INSECT. 



The moth, which is the parent of the \''ariegated Cutworm, is a large species ex- 

 panding from an inch and a half to nearly two inches when the wings are spread. It 

 varies very much in colour ; the forewings are, as a rule, rather dark brown, but 

 varying to ochreous or russet-brown, shaded on the disk and toward the end of the 

 wing with darker brown ; occasionally specimens are quite light along the costal 

 region and at the base of ihe wing. The wings are crossed by the usual four more 

 or less distinct double wavy bands, but in many specimens these merely show as 

 double spots on the costa. The reniform or kidney-shaped spot is usually darker than 

 the orbicular or round spot, and the reniform bears a few white scales on the outer 

 margin. In two specimens no trace of the reniform or of the orbicular can be seen. 

 The underwings are pearly-white in the centre, with a purplish sheen, bordered broadly 

 and veined with dusky brown, and fringed with white (hence the English name of this 

 moth. The Pearly Underwing). The thorax is of the same colour as the forewings, and 

 bears in the centre a tuft of raised light-tipped scales. 



The eggs are laid in elongated flat patches, and were first found by Dr. Riley and 

 figured in his First Missouri Report for 1868. In years of great abundance it is 

 probable that these eggs are laid in various places other than on the food plant. Eggs 

 which were most probably of this species were found upon curtains, on clothes hanging 

 on lines, and on the woodwork of houses, by Mrs. Walton, of Armstrong, B.C., and 

 Mrs. Place, of Dog Creek, B.C. On hatching, the young caterpillars, as is the case 

 with some other cutworms, are loopers, and resemble the larvae of the Geometrid moths, 

 lacking some of the prolegs which appear in later stages. A full account of the 

 appearance of the larva in the different stages is given by Dr. Lintner in his Fifth 

 Report as State Entomologist of New York. 



* Figures Nos. 9 and 11 have been kindly lent by Prof. Otto Lugger, and Nos. 10, 12, 13 

 and 14 by Prof. M. V. Slingerland. 



