442 LEPIDOPTERA. 



these insects in their attempts to obtain shelter and conceal- 

 ment. The thorax is slightly convex, but smooth or not 

 crested. The antennae of the males are generally beset with 

 two rows of short points, like fine teeth, on the under side, 

 nearly to the tips. The fore legs are often quite spiny. 



Most of these moths come forth in July and August, and 

 soon afterwards lay their eggs in the ground, in ploughed 

 fields, gardens, and meadows. In Europe it js found that 

 the eggs are hatched early in the autumn, at which time the 

 little subterranean caterpillars live chiefly on the roots and 

 tender sprouts of herbaceous plants. On the approach of 

 winter they descend deeper into the ground, and, curling 

 themselves up, remain in a torpid state till the following 

 spring, when they ascend towards the surface, and renew 

 their devastations. The caterpillars of the Agrotidians are 

 smooth, shining, naked, and dark-colored, with longitudinal 

 pale and blackish stripes, and a few black dots on each ring ; 

 some of them also have a shining, horny, black spot on the 

 top of the first ring. They are of a cylindrical form, taper- 

 ing a little at each end, rather thick in proportion to their 

 length, and are provided with sixteen legs. They are 

 changed to chrysalids in the ground, without previously 

 making silken cocoons. The most destructive kinds in Eu- 



o 



rope are the caterpillars of the corn rustic or winter dart- 

 moth {Agrotis segetum), the wheat dart-moth {Agrotis tritici), 

 the eagle-moth (Agrotis aquilina), and the turf rustic or 

 antler-moth {Cliarceas gramims*^). The first two attack 

 both the roots and leaves of winter wheat ; the second also 

 destroys buckwheat, and it is stated that sixty bushels of 

 mould, taken from a field where they prevailed, contained 

 twenty-three bushels of the caterpillars ; those of the eagle- 

 moth occasionally prove very destructive in vineyards ; and 

 the caterpillars of the antler-moth are notorious for their 

 devastations in meadows, and particularly in mountain pas- 

 tures. 



* See Hollar's Treatise, pp. 94, 102, 166, and 136. 



