400 



The Moths and Butterflies 



Noctuids have come into prominence because of the destructive vegetable- 

 feeding habits of their larvae; such are the cutworm-moths, the army- 

 worm moths, the cotton-worm moths, and others, and these species are 

 so often described and pictured that they are fairly well known. Other 

 small groups, of which the interesting Catocalas, the red and yellow under- 

 wings (Fig. 580), are the most conspicuous, have attracted the attention 

 of collectors because of particular habits or patterns, and these are fairly 



FIG. 580. A group of red and yellow undenvings; upper moth, Catocala palaogama', 

 lower left-hand corner, Catocala ultronia; lower right-hand corner, Catocala grynea. 

 (After Lugger; natural size.) 



well known. Few moth-collectors but have "sugared" for Catocalas, 

 those large night-flyers, somber of fore wing but brilliant of hind wing, 

 that can be so readily attracted and taken by a bait of molasses and stale 

 beer smeared in patches on the trunks of trees in summer-time. The fore 

 wings harmonize in color, shades, and pattern so thoroughly with the bark 

 that when the Catocala rests, as it does during the daytime, on tree-trunks 

 with its brilliant hind wings, strikingly banded with red, yellow, white, or 

 black, covered by the fore wings, it is simply indistinguishable. The 

 Catocala larvae are curious creatures, with body thick in the middle and 



