LEPIDOPTEEA (MOTHS). 203 



habits. They are mostly dull-coloured insects, with thread-like 

 antenn£B in the female, pectinate in the male. The ahdomen 

 is broad, but slightly tapering to a point at the hind end in the 

 female, expanded in the male. The legs have strong tibial 

 spurs. The front wings are generally narrow, and usually 

 darker than the under-wings. The posterior pair are often 

 coloured, as we see in the Eed and Yellow Under-wings. The 

 moths have a long trunk and projecting palpi. There is a great 

 superficial resemblance between many of the species. The 

 larvee are but slightly hairy, and are provided with sixteen legs. 

 If the Plusiadce are included in this group, the number of legs 

 must not be taken as a characteristic, as they are reduced to 

 fourteen, and some forms have only twelve. The pupse 

 (fig. 104, 4) of NootuEe are generally found underground. Some 

 are naked, others surrounded by a case of earth in the soil : 

 they are brown in colour, and devoid of body spines. Many 

 of the larvae, especially of the genus Agrotis, are called Surface 

 Larvas. 



Surface Larvee [Noctuce). 



One is constantly finding dull-coloured caterpillars in the soil, 

 especially in the autumn, winter, and spring. These sluggish 

 larvae (fig. 104, 2) can at once be identified as moth larvte 

 by the number of their legs. They are of a variety of species : 

 the majority, however, belong to the two moths called the 

 Turnip Moth {Agrotis segetwn) and the Heart-and-Dart Moth 

 {A. exclamationis), while not a few are the caterpillars of the 

 Yellow Underwing (Triphcena pronuba). All these are noc- 

 turnal feeders, living just under the soil during the day and 

 coming out at night to feed. They sometimes, like worms, 

 pull a number of leaves into the soil to devour during the day. 

 Almost all plants are attacked by them, and the damage they 

 cause is often considerable. Both stem and leafage is eaten, 

 especially of young plants, alike in garden and field. The 



