Noctuid* 



Genus PTER^ETHOLIX Grote 



(i) Pteraetholix bullula Grote, Plate XXIX, Fig. 8, $ . 

 The habitat of this little moth is the Gulf States. 



Genus Alabama Grote 



(i) Alabama argillacea Hiibner, Plate XXIX, Fig. n, $. 

 (The Cotton-worm Moth). 



Syn. xylina Say; grandipuncta Guenee; bipunctina Guene. 



The Cotton-worm Moth is one of a number of insects which 

 annually inflict a vast amount of damage upon the crops in the 

 southern por- 

 tion of our 

 country. In 

 Prof. Com- 

 stock's "Re- 

 port upon the 

 insects which 

 are injurious to 

 cotton," pub- 

 lished in 1879, 

 and in the 

 "Fourth Re- 

 port of the 

 United States 

 Entomological 

 Commission," 

 there is given 



a great deal of valuable and interesting information in regard to 

 this species. Much may also be learned about it from the study 

 of the "Missouri Reports" published by the late Prof. C. V. 

 Riley. The range of the insect is very broad. It sometimes, 

 though very rarely, occurs as far north as Canada. From this 

 northernmost location it has been found ranging southward as 

 far as Argentina. It sometimes appears to migrate in swarms. 

 A number of years ago, during a heavy snowstorm in November, 

 myriads of the moths suddenly appeared in the city of Pittsburgh, 

 and they came flying in the evening to the electric lights. From 

 one store the proprietor said that he had swept them out by the 



343 



FIG. 151. Alabama argillacea. a. Egg: b. immature 

 larva; c. lateral view of mature larva; d. dorsal vievf 

 of mature larva; e, leaf in which pupation takes 

 place; /, pupa. (After Riley.) 



