Insects, etc., Injurious to the Strawberry. 



451 



moths are nocturnal and are very fond of sweet substances. Great 

 numbers may be taken by placing sugar or treacle and rum on the 

 trunks of trees. 



The caterpillars feed at night ; when quite young they may be 

 found during the day under leaves close to or on the ground. As 

 they grow they take to the soil, or 

 hide under tiles and stones and 

 crawl forth at night to feast on the 

 leaves near them ; at the same time 

 they feed on the roots, frequently 

 cutting them asunder, hence they 

 are called " cutworms." They also 

 cub off leaves and pull them into 

 the ground to serve as food. The 

 size attained at maturity is 1^ inch. 

 The colour is dull brownish to 

 greenish-lilac, with a pale dull 

 ochreous hue down the centre, with 

 one dark line along each edge and 

 a double one along the centre of 

 the back ; the head is brown, and 

 the first segment of the body dark, 

 and all the segments have four small 

 tubercles on the top, with a delicate 

 hair projecting from each and others 

 on the sides ; the ventral surface is 

 pale dull green. As in all true 

 caterpillars, there are three pairs 

 of jointed limbs on the first three 

 segments, then two without any, then 

 four pairs of fleshy prolegs, and an 

 anal pair. They live and feed right through the winter and pupate 

 in late April on to mid May. In habits they are very sluggish, and 

 often assume a fattened appearance, as thick as a goose quill. They 

 enter the pupal stage in a cell in the earth, the pupa being brown and 

 smooth skinned. The Yellow Underwing (Fig. 297) can at once be 

 told by its yellowish posterior wings, with a dark line near the edge. 

 It appears in June, July and August also, and has similar habits. 

 The caterpillar is dull yellowish to greyish or brownish-green, with a 

 pale line along the back, and a similar one on the sides below the 

 latter, with some large dark spots above on the third to eleventh 

 segments, and there is an indistinct side line. 



2 G 2 



[E. Tonga. 



FIG. 295. HEART AND DART MOTHS, 

 SHOWING VARIATION. 



