LEPIDOPTERA 



81 



Part II), injurious to cotton in the South, but in the 

 adult stage more or less familiar to the people of the 

 North, whither it migrates in countless numbers in the 

 fall of the year. One of the cabbage worms, the Cabbage 

 looper,* is a Noctuid, and to complete the list would 

 require the mention of a large proportion of the two 

 thousand species which exist , 

 in our fauna. 



Larvae of Noctuidse may be 

 for the most part very well 

 illustrated by the common cut- 

 worms, dull colored, smooth or 

 even greasy in appearance, an 

 inch or more long and nearly 

 as thick as a lead pencil, vora- 

 cious feeders appearing mostly 

 at night and remaining con- 

 cealed during the day. 



A few species in this group 

 are larger and of rather striking 

 appearance. Notable among 

 these are the Catocalas. These 

 expand from two to three 

 inches, have dull-colored fore- 

 wings which are often almost 

 indistinguishable from the bark upon which they usually 

 rest, and brilliantly marked hind wings, different shades of 

 red and yellow bands alternating with black or gray. 



50. Arctiidae. The Tiger-moths are not so abundant 



as the Noctuids, there being comparatively few species, 



but they are likely to attract nearly as much attention on 



account of the more striking appearance of both adults 



* See page 284, Part II, cabbage caterpillars. 



FIG. 53. Underwing Moths 

 (Noctuidas). Reduced one 

 half. 



