82 



FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OF 



greatly unlike that of the "Greasy Cutworm" already described 

 but its average size is but V, inches. The ground color is dirty white 

 or ash-gray and it has three broad dark lines, and two light 'narrow 

 ones along the sides, and a light one, edged on each side with a dark 

 one, along the middle of the back. This species remains longer in 

 the ground than any of the others, and the moth does not appear till 

 August and September. The moth is represented at Figure 29, a, 



with the wings expanded, and at 



I with the wings closed. Its 



markings are so conspicuous and 



characteristic that it suflices to 



say that the light parts are of 



V:... ;;r:ivi<li lU'sh-color, and the dark 



^^W^Kr J J, pari s of a deep brown. It was 



9 [■ .. ^\\ i t described in the year 1810 by 



\^'<£j y lV ^ [jaworth, and is supposed to 



a b be an English insect; but as it is 



quite rare in England, and very common in this country, Dr. Fitch 



concludes, and I think rightly, that it is an American insect, the eggs 



or larvae of Avhich have accidentally been carried to England. 



Agrotis subgothica, Haw.— Larva.— Length 1.25 inches. Ground color dirty white or ash- 

 gray, inclining in some instances to yellowish. A whitish dorsal line edged on each side wicha dark 

 one. Three lateral dark broader stripes — the lower one broadest of all — separated by two pale 

 ones. Quite often an indistinct glaucous white stripe under the lower broad dark one. Piliferous 

 spots of good size. Head shiny black, or in some individuals finely speckled with white, especial- 

 ly at the sides ; with the usual forked white line like an inverted Y. Cervical shield, or upper por- 

 tion of the first segment, of the same shiny color as the head, with a white stripe in the middle, 

 contiguous to that on the head, and another each side. Venter dull white. Legs the same, varied 

 with smoky brown. 



THE DINGY CUT-WORM— PI. 1, Fig. 11. 

 (Larra of the Dart-bearing Rustic, Agrotis jatulifera.) 



We have, in the West, another cut-worm, resembling the preced- 

 ing species in almost every particular, the following being the only 

 permanent differences: 1st, It never attains quite so large a size, 

 2d, it is generally darker and more dingy, and the longitudinal lines 

 are consequently less distinct; 3d, it is generally of a more decided 

 dull pale buff color on the back. 



On the 27th of last June, I received several of these cut-worms 

 from Mr. Horace Starkey, of Rockford, Illinois, with a statement that 

 they were proving quite destructive in the gardens of that vicinity, 

 but without specifying what particular plants they attacked. They en- 

 tered the ground soon after being received, and by the 7th ot July, had 

 all changed to chrysalids. The chrysalis differs from most of the oth- 

 ers, in being of a very light honey-yellow, shaded with brown, with 

 the eyes dark brown, and two sub quadrate spots of the same color on 

 the wing-sheaths, just above the antenna'. It measures 0.G5 of an 

 inch in length. The moths began to issue on the 2d of September, 

 and proved to be a species very closely allied to the preceding. In- 

 deed the markings on the wings are almost exactly the same; but it 



