326 



BRITISH MOTHS. 



f 



529. The Heart and Dart (Agrotis exclamationis) . 



529. THE HEART AKD DART. The antennae 

 are ciliated in the m'ale, simple in the female : 

 the tore wings are nearly straight on the costa 

 and blunt at the tip ; their colour is umber- 

 brown, the ground-colour rather pale, the 

 spots dark ; the claviform is almost black, and 

 is united to, or rather seated on, a slender 

 transverse dark line ; the orbicular is less dis- 

 tinct; the reniform is large, distinct, and uni- 

 colorous ; immediately beyond it, is a curved 

 and zigzag dark line crossing the wing : the 

 find wings of the male are pale, with darker 

 wing-rays, and a dark but slender hind-mar- 

 ginal line ; the hind wings of the female are 

 smoke-coloured ; the head, thorax, and body 

 are of the same ground-colour as the fore 

 wings; the collar is very erect, and has a 

 deep brown mark, which, as you look at the 

 face of the moth full in front, has a great 

 resemblance to the conventional representa- 

 tion of a flying bird. 



The EGG is laid in June, either on the ground, 

 or on the young leaves of turnips, rape, radishes, 

 or other vegetables, or perhaps o n those of dande- 

 lions, docks, or other weeds, the young CATER- 

 PILLAR at first feeding entirely above ground 

 and on green leaves, but I think this habit 

 only lasts until the second month, when it 

 burrows beneath the surface, and becomes 

 either an entirely subterranean feeder, or a 

 subterranean resident during the day, some- 

 times ascending plants or garden vegetables 



by night, and feeding on the leaves. Thus I 

 have often found it on either autumnal or win- 

 ter greens by night, making copious mines in 

 some of the more solid heads in company with 

 the caterpillar of Mamestra Brassicce already 

 described. It also feeds on the roots of tur- 

 nips, parsnips, carrots, and mangold wurzel, 

 particularly about the crown and round the 

 base of the tap root : it thus does an almost 

 incredible amount of damage, in this respect 

 vieing with its congener, Agrotis Segetnm, 

 emphatically known as the "turnip-grub." I 

 have found it at the approach of winter appa- 

 rently full-fed, although I have ascertained 

 that it continues its destructive operations 

 throughout the winter, so long as it finds roots 

 that it can devour. It shows a decided pre- 

 ference for those turnips commonly known as 

 " whita rounds," and should these be sown in 

 the same field with swedes or mangold wurzel, 

 it will exhibit its taste by confining its ravages 

 to the white rounds. The caterpillar is full- 

 fed in September and October, and is then 

 about an inch and a half long, stout, fleshy, 

 and cylindrical ; it rolls in a ring when an- 

 noyed. The head is slightly narrower than 

 the second segment, into which it can be 

 partially withdrawn. It is glabrous, and of a 

 pale brown colour, with two dark brown marks 

 down the face. The colour of the body is pale 

 dingy -brown, with a double, but slender, 

 medio- dorsal stripe, which appears to be 

 united at the interstices of the segments, but 

 opens, and encloses a small linear space on 

 the disk of each ; on each side of the medio- 

 dorsal is a slender and slightly waved stripe, 

 and between this and the medio-dorsal is a 

 series of black dots, one on each side of the 

 first and second segments, two each on the 

 others as far as the twelfth inclusive ; on each 

 side of each segment, and below the lateral 

 stripe, are three dots, excepting the first and 

 second, which have but two, and every dot 

 emits a minute bristle : the legs and ciaspers 

 are concolorous with the body. When full-fed 

 it forms an earthen cocoon, thi % ee or four inches 

 below the surface of the ground, and therein 

 changes to a smooth brown shining CHRYSALIS, 

 with a stout body and a sharp anal point. 



