CHAPTER I. 
CLASSIFICATION A3TD KOMENCL AT DB E . DESTKUCTIYE- 
NESS. 
POFUIiAB AND SCIENTIFIC NAJEBfla 
Among planters the Cotton Worm is very often termed the u Cater- 
pillar," or the "Cotton Caterpillar." and not Infrequently the "Army 
Worm." We have el8ewh4 re .shown* why this last term should be dis- 
conntenaneed in the literature of the subject, unless prefixed by the 
word "Cotton," and, both for tin* sake of brevity and to prevent con- 
fusion, the name Died in this Bulletin, and by which the insect in this 
larva state is very generally known, is, on the whole, preferable. In 
Louisiana, more particularly, the French term "chenille," meaning cat- 
erpillar, is commonly employed. For the perfect insect the term "fly" 
is more often used in some parts of the South than the term "moth," 
but the latter is preferable from an entomological vjew. 
As to the scientific name, the Species was first described by Thomas 
Say, in 1827, as Xocttia xjflina, in a letter to Dr. 0, W. Oapers, published 
in I he Southern Agriculturist (vol. 1, p. 203), but overlooked by most later 
writers. Harris, in his ( 'oi respond< net\ placed the "Cotton Moth v near 
the genus Ophiuso, while later authors more correctly r efer red it to lliib- 
ner's genua A sosnit. Mr. A. B. Grote, in 187 1,1 an ived at the conclusion 
that Bay's xylina was nothing more nor less than the Ahtia argillaeea 
of Iliibutr, described and figured by this author in 1823 1 . In this 
opinion he was followed by subsequent authors, and this name was 
adopted in Bulletin 3 of the Commission, and also in the special Report 
of the Agricultural Department. Kecmt studies, 2 however, Indicate 
that, although our Cotton Worm moth is found at Bahia, the locality 
from which A. argdlacea was originally described, this name was, with- 
out much doubt, given by Maimer to an entirely distinct species also 
found in the same locality, and Say's Specific name of .rylina should 
still hold for our Cotton Worm moth* 
Accepting the difference between Anomis and AJctia as of generic 
value, our Cotton Moth should still be placed in AlcUa ; and the common 
Or popular name "Alctia," which WBf>rpp08ed in the Bulletin, and which 
has come into quite extensive use in the last four years, may, therefore, 
be retained. 
*Stt> Second Auuual Report on the noxious, beneluial, ami other insects of the State of Missouri, 
1870, p. 37. 
tProc. Am. Assoc. Adv. Sci. for 1874, 1875, v. 23, Sec. B, p. 13-18. 
