304 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW [157— Oct., 1919 



"I'm SO glad I brought these woolly bears to you last fall," 

 confided the Boy. 



"Maybe we can find some little woolly bears on grass or dande- 

 lion where the mother moth lays her eggs," said the Teacher 

 "and tonight we will let the moth out for that is the time it likes 

 to fly." 



The Fire Worshippers 



Most moths are night fliers and a very large ninnber of species 

 are attracted to the light. Why this is so we do not know, but the 



fact is of great use to the moth collectors, 

 for many a rare specimen is found at this 

 rendezvous. While dozens of different 

 kinds may be found fluttering around a 

 street light in July of a warm damp 

 evening, many of them belong to the 

 Plusia simplex ^^^^^ family of Owlet Moths, the 



Noctuids. These are thick bodied medium sized moths with front 

 wings beautifully and modestly mottled and marbled in browns 

 and grays; one large genus, the Plusias, have a shining white 

 punctuation 

 mark at the 

 middle of the 

 front wing. Their 

 eyes shine with 

 all kinds of me- 

 tallic tints as 

 they dash 

 around the shin- 

 ing goal of their 



desires. The 



, . 1 , ^ Calocala ilia 



caterpillars of 



these moths are naked, dull in color and feed upon the leaves of 



plants, although some are borers and some gnaw into fruits. 



Among them are some of the most important insects injurious to 



agriculture. 



Among the most interesting of the larger moths found at the 



light are the Underwings or Catocolas. They live in the forests 



and their front wings are brown or gray, marked with zigzag lines 



so resembling bark that when they are at rest on a tree trunk 



