122 



12. Thviislies sliould lie oiiCDur.-ii^od. It is easier to Iceep tlioin (iff our 

 fruit than to suppress the snails and slugs wliieb tliey largely devour. — Board 

 of A<jrieiiltiii-e. England. 



Note ny Rev. G. W. Taylor. — Our worst pest among the slugs is an im- 

 portation from the Old Country. The native slugs {Li max ugrciitis) are not 

 usually suttieiently abundant to do nuich damage. 



Vahieg.med Cut-Woi!M ( Prridirjiiia saiicia, IIbn.). 



(Fig. :y2 ) 

 (Fig. ^2.) a, moth; b, v, d, cat(.Tiiillai-s ; c, egg, onliirge(3 ; /, egg 

 Dcsciiiilioii and Habits. 



mass on twig. 



The moth, which is the parent of the variegated cut-worm, is a large 

 species expanding from an inch and a half to nearly two inches when the 

 wings are spread. It varies very much in colour ; the forewings are, as a 

 rule, rather dark-hrowu, but varying to ochreous or russet-brown, shaded on 

 the disk and toward the end of the wing w'ith a darker brown; occasionally 

 specimens are quite light along the costal region and at the base of the wing. 

 The wings are crossed by the usual four more or less distinct double spots on 

 the costa. Tlie reuiform or kidney-shaped spot is usually darker than the 

 orbicular or round spot, and the reuiform bears a few white scales on the 

 outer margin. The under wiugs are pearly white in the centre with a purplish 

 sheen bordered broadl.v and veined with dusky-brown and fringed with white 

 (hence the English name of the moth, the "Pearly Underwing.") The 

 thorax is of the same colour as the forewings, and bears in the centre a tuft 

 of raised, light tipped scales. 



The eggs are laid in elongated flat patches, and were first found b.v Dr. 

 Itiley. and figured in his first Missouri report for 1868. In years of great 

 abundance it is probable that these eggs are laid in various places other than 

 on the food plant. Eggs which were most probably of this species were 



