8 



: Ml/100 ■ 



reliable 



Bulletin op the New York State Museum. 



testimony of their having been found in such places, 

 while of some species the eggs have been dis- 

 covered in locations quite removed from their 

 natural food-plants, as upon the leaves and 

 twigs of trees not known to be frequented by 

 the larvae, as are, at times, the eggs of Agrotis 

 saucia (Hubn.), as shown in Fig. 11. The usual 

 time for egg-deposit is the latter part of summer. 

 Hatching soon after, early in the autumn, the 

 larvae enter the earth and commence to feed 

 upon the tender roots of various plants — upon 

 almost any kind that they encounter, as at this 

 stage of their life they are very general feeders. 

 A At the commencement of winter as the frosts 

 greatly enlarged ; b, penetrate to their abode and chill them, and 



eggs of the same de- ,-it -, iiiu- ii i 



posited upon a twig, * ne y have become about halt grown, they de- 

 natural size, scend into the ground to the depth of six or 

 eight inches or even not so deep. Here they shape for them- 

 selves an oval cavity, within which they curl up in a torpid state 

 for their winter's sleep. Freezing fails to harm them if undisturbed 

 in their retreats. In the spring, when the frost leaves the ground, 

 they awaken to activity, ascend to near the surface, and resume 

 their feeding upon the roots of the starting vegetation. With 

 their rapid growth, they soon attain to the size and strength that 

 permits them to travel through the ground with ease in search of 

 the particular food most agreeable to them. 



When full-grown they again descend into the ground to a greater 

 depth than before, and within a compacted cell, made by packing 

 the earth with their head, after the few days required to produce 

 the change, throw off the caterpillar skin and become smooth, dark- 

 brown pupae. The pupal stage may average three or four weeks, 

 when the moth issues from the rent pupal case and makes its way 

 to the surface. During the brief life of the winged insect, which 

 lasts only for two or three weeks, if not sooner terminated by one 

 of its many enemies, the sexes come together, eggs are deposited 

 for another brood, a moderate amount of food is partaken of 

 in the nectar of flowers or other sweet substance, and the 

 life-cycle is completed. A similar round, only much shortened 

 in duration, and with continued progress, in some cases fol- 

 lows and is completed during the summer, but as a rule only 

 a single brood of cut- worms is produced during the year. 



