FAMILIES NONAGR1AD.E AND AGROTID^. 243 



Nonagriadae. 



TiiK body of tlie moths of this family is long ; the thorax is smooth ; the coloi-s are yel- 

 lowish or clay-colored, and the forewings are fiiintly streaked or banded. The larva are 

 naked, long and slender, and taper at each end : they li^'e within (he stems of reeds, and 

 feed upon the pith and upon the inside of roots, and hence are destructive. "When about 

 to transform, they gnaw through the stem to the cuticle, which is left entire, but is easily 

 broken through afterwards by the nymph. They are known by the common name of 

 tpindleworms. Some attack corn, to which they do great injury ; otbei-s, the stems of garden 

 flowers, such as the dahlia, etc. 



The Gortyrda zea of Harris belongs to this family, and is described by him as having 

 its forewings of a rusty red, and mottled with gray almost in bands : there is also an 

 irregular tawny spot near the tip, and on the veins a few black dots. Expanse of wing, 

 an inch and a half. 



Another Gortynia attacks the roots of columbine, and has been named by Dr. Harris 

 leucosligma. The forewings are tawny yellow, sprinkled with purple brown dots. (See 

 Harris, Insects injurious to vegetation, p. 341, 2d edition.) 



Agrotidae, 



The larvae of this family are subterranean, and come forth from the soil to feed in the 

 night, and return to tlieir burrows before morning : they are called cutworms, and are 

 exceedingly troublesome in cornfields. The moths are usually brown, and sometimes fly 

 by day, and feed upon the honey of wild plants : their wings are nearly horizontal when 

 at rest, and the forewings completely conceal the hind ones when closed. The thorax is 

 not crested. The antennae of the males are sometimes pectinated at the Ijase, but taper to 

 slender filaments. The forelegs are spiny. 



Tlie larvae are smooth, cylindrical, dirty white, and rather thick bodies, naked or fur- 

 nished with only a few scattering hairs : their rings are dotted. They change to chrysalids 

 in the ground. 



The attacks of these larvae extend to many of our most useful cultivated plants, corn, 

 cabbages, wheat, buckwheat, grasses, together with cultivated flowers. In the maize-fields, 

 however, about the middle of July, they seem all at once to cease their injurious work to 

 the com plants. 



It appears from Dr. Harris's researches that we have many different species of thia 

 family, all of which have the similar habit of feeding upon young and tender plants, and 

 of cutting off their stems just above the soil. 



