84 
AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 
stinging ; but, as I repeatedly handled them with impunity, theii 
poison, if any, cannot he Very powerful. 
The chrysalides, which are dark-brown, approaching to black, 
appeared about the end of September, and were quite short and thick. 
I cannot describe the perfect moth, as, unfortunately, the chrysalides 
did not live to perfect their last transformation. These caterpillars, 
although described as infesting cotton, cannot be classed amongst.those 
very injurious, as they did not appear in numbers sufficient to injure 
the general crop. 
There is a red, hairy caterpillar of like characteristics, that some- 
times eats the cotton-leaf, but which it is unnecessary to describe here. 
THE COTTON ARCTIA 
(Arctia?) 
A species of arctia (PI. VII. fig. 2 ) was also found in Talla- 
hassee, in the month of July, upon the cotton-plant; but, most proba- 
bly, the parent moth had wandered away from its more natural food, 
as the identical kind of caterpillar was found at the same time upon 
the brambles by the roadside near that place. Ihe plant attacked, 
however, was in the middle of the field, and not near any brambles 
nor weeds, on which the eggs might have been laid. The bare stem 
and branches of the cotton were covered with the unsightly web, 
and all but a few straggling caterpillars had disappeared, having 
probably webbed up preparatory to the final change. 
The full-grown caterpillar is from an inch and one-tenth to an 
i-ncli and three-tenths in length; the hack, dark-colored, and covered 
with tufts of long, blackish-grey hairs ; the sides are of a pale-greenish 
color, with a line between the black and green distinctly marked; 
the six pectoral feet and head are black, and the eight ventral and 
two anal ones are green. 
The chrysalides were formed on the 24th of July, in cocoons or 
loose webs, intermingled with its own hair, and spun under the 
loose leaves. They were nearly half an inch in length, short and 
thick in form, and brown in color. The moths came out in about 
twelve or fourteen days. 
The wings of the male measure, when expanded, from nine-tenths 
of an inch to an inch across, and are white, with one or two black 
dots near the centre of the upper pair ; the eyes are black ; the an- 
tennas feathered, and the two fore-legs of an orange color. 
The female is much larger than the male, measuring about an inch 
and one-fifth across the expanded wings. She is very similar to 
the male in color, but has no black spot on the upper-wing; nor 
are the antennm feathered as in the male. 
I consider, from the circumstances under which the nest, or web, 
of caterpillars was found, that it was accident alone which caused 
their presence on the cotton, as I have never seen them before nor 
since, in any number, among the plants. Therefore, they may be 
classed among those insects which cause little or no harm to the 
general crop. 
