81 
four or five weeks, at the close of which they transform to chrysalids 
in cocoons made of hairs from their own bodies, held together by the 
manner in which the worm weaves them. The first brood of the 
moths emerge from the chrysalids in about ten days, but the last brood 
passes the winter in the chrysalis state. 
The moth has white wings and is usually called “The Miller,” it 
enters houses at night and flitS*about the lamps, as, like many other 
moths, it is attracted by light. It has a black dot in the middle of 
each of the front wings, and two black dots on each of the hind wings. 
There is orange yellow on the back of the abdomen each side of a row 
of black dots, and a little of the same color on the front thighs. 
Remedies —Hand picking is usually the best means of destroying 
them, as their depredations to cultivated plants are usually local or 
confined to small areas, and their size renders them easilv seen and 
removed. Were it not for the fact that nature has provided a large 
number of insect foes that prey upon this caterpillar, its voracious ap¬ 
petite and rapid increase in numbers would make it a formidable en¬ 
emy to the farmer. Prof. Riley says of this : 
“It is fortunate for us that this caterpillar is attacked by a large 
number of insect parasites, for, were this not the case, it would soon 
multiply to such a degree as to be beyond our control. We know of 
no less than five distinct parasites" which attack it—some living 
singly in the body of the caterpillar, and issuing from the chrysalis 
without spinning any cocoon of their own; others living singly in 
the body, but forming a cocoon of their own inside the chrysalis of 
their victims, and still others infesting the caterpillar in great num¬ 
bers, and completely filling the chrysalis with their pupte. 
CUT-WORMS. 
In Europe these caterpillars are called Surface Grubs, a term that 
is appropriate to only a part of the species, for though most of them 
feed upon plants close to the surface of the ground, there are some 
species that climb low bushes, such as the currant and gooseberry, and 
sven apple and other fruit trees, the buds of which they eat or cut off; 
while there are others still that w T ork wholly beneath the surface. 
For this reason the term “Cut-worm” seems more appropriate for 
these caterpillars than. Surface-Grubs. The name is sometimes used 
to designate the occasional habits of other caterpillars that do not 
belong to this group of the Owlet Moths, as, for instance, the early 
brood of the Army-worm (Leucania unipuncta .) For the same reason 
the caterpillars of the Violet Nephelodes may be included in the list, 
for it was found during my observations last summer to have the 
habits of the Cut-worms, though according to structure it is more 
nearly related to the borers, of which the Stalk-borer (Gortyna nitela ) 
is a good type. 
These caterpillars differ in the place they cut off the plants upon 
which they feed. This is sometimes done at the surface of the ground, 
little below the surface, or about an inch above, while some species 
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