affecting the Turnip- CrG]M. 
105 
ocliiaccous, with two black stripes in front and a fuscous spr>t 
between them ; the first thoracic segment has a brownish or black 
lunula above, but not glossy ; there are three pale lines down the 
back, the central one being the narrowest, the other segments 
having a blackish streak on the inside, excepting the first four, 
forming seven long spots, the twelfth segment is green with four 
fuscous spots, and the apex is brown ; the spiracles are black, the 
head and tail slightly hairy, and there are a few short hairs scat- 
tered over the body ; they are very fat, but not in the least 
shining : they can walk and cling pretty well ; the six pectoral 
feet are ochreous, the other ten have the coronets black : they 
are Ij of an inch long, sometimes as thick as a swan's quill 
J hese caterpillars live through the winter, and can bear very 
severe cold ; for I took one home that was embedded in ice in 
December on an inundated meadow, and it not only recovered, 
but ate a hole in a plantain-leaf in the spring : they frequently 
hibernate just beneath the turf or surface of the soil, and come 
out again to feed in the spring ; they finally bury themselves in the 
ground about April, when they form cases of the earth, and change 
to large chrysalides of a bright reddish brown, like fig. 14, from 
which the moths emerge early in the summer. 
These larvae are often alluded to by gardeners as a very trouble- 
some species, and there seems to be good evidence of their being 
so, for we have shown that this variety is undoubtedly one of those 
Surface-grubs which infest the turnips ; but unscientific men are 
very vague in their descriptions, and often confound a number of 
things under the name of grubs ; this is not surprising when we 
are aware that nothing is more difficult than to trace these animals 
through their different skins and transformations, since they vary 
greatly in colour, live a long time, and notwithstanding the 
greatest care and attention they often die in the chrysalis state. 
If the writer be correct as to the identity of the insects, the fol- 
lowing statements by J. D. will at once show how mischievous this 
caterpillar is: — "Early in May, 1833, I sowed a small bed of 
onions; a plentiful crop arose, but from then till Se])tember l'2tli 
the plants have kept withering until half are gone. As the herb- 
age was in some cases wholly, in others partially eaten through at 
the earth's surface, it seemed clearly the work of insects ; but 
I could find none. The bulb was partly decayed as well as 
eaten. Since the soaking rains which fell on September 1st, 2nd, 
and 3rd, the onions disappeared altogether at one end of the bed, 
and this sight prompted me on the 14th of September to dig the 
whole up. The bed was 7 feet long by 3^ wide ; and in this 
area I found forty-seven grubs^ most of them full-grown, some of 
