LEPIDOPTERA. 



307 



Fig. 372. — Acronycta moruca. 



of genera, which contain species that differ in appearance 

 from other Noctuids, the larvae of many being hairy like 

 those of Arctiids. The fore wings of the moths are gener- 

 ally light gray with dark spots, and in many species have a 

 dagger-like mark near the anal angle. On this account these 

 moths have received the name Daggers. 



The Ochre Dagger, Acronycta morula (Ac-ro-nyc'ta mor'u- 

 la).— This moth (Fig. 372) is pale gray with a yellowish 

 tinge. Besides the black line 

 forming part of the dagger 

 near the anal angle of the 

 fore wing, there is a similar 

 black line near the base of 

 the wing, and a third near 

 the outer margin between 

 veins V^ and V^. The larva 

 feeds on elm and basswood. When full grown it is mottled 

 brown and greenish like the bark, it is clothed with but few 



scattered hairs, and has a 

 hump on the first, fourth, and 

 eighth abdominal segments. 



The American Dagger, Ac- 

 roiiycta americana (Ac-ro-nyc'- 

 ta a-mer-i-ca'na). — This is a 

 gray moth resembling in its 

 general appearance the pre- 

 ceding, but with the black 

 lines on the fore wings much 

 less distinct. Its larva, how- 

 ever, is very different (Fig. 

 373). This larva looks like an 

 Arctiid, being densely clothed 

 with yellow hairs. But these 

 hairs are scattered over the 

 surface of the body instead of 

 growing from tubercles, as with the larvae of Arctiids. Along 



Fig. 373. — Acronycta americana^ larva. 



