209 
dirty whitish yellow, the lines less distinct but the piliferous spots 
proportionally larger; head quite variable in depth of shade.—Riley. 
Moth. Expanse of wing 1.35 of an inch. Ground color of fore wings 
light yellowish giay with a bluish tint, distinctly so on the terminal 
space. The transverse lines only indicated by a few scales on the 
rims and marks on the costa. The stigmata concolorous with the 
wing, imperfectly edged by a fine brown line, the lower part of the 
remform containing a black spot, subterminal line rather distinct, 
light with a dark shading each side. Hind wings very pale, and 
lacking the bluish tinge of the fore wings. Thorax concolorous with 
the fore wings, the line on the prothorax very faint. 
Agrotis messoria, Harris.—The Reaping Rustic. 
The larva is the Dark Sided 
Cut-worm. 
1 This species, the larva of which 
was named as above bv Prof. 
Riley, has been described three 
different times, under as many 
different names, all but the first 
of which are now regarded as 
n The Reaping Rustic. # synonyms. Dr. Harris first named 
the moth Agrotis messoria m his work, “Insects Injurious to Vegeta- 
tion. kince that, Grote and Robinson, in a contribution to the first 
volume of the American Entomological Society’s transactions, called 
\\Agrtiis repentis. In the number of the Prairie Farmer for June 2 
lbbb, Prof. Riley described the caterpillar as the Dark Sided Cut¬ 
worm, and a year later or June 22, 1877, in an article to the same 
papei, .with further observations, he described the moth as Aqrotis 
cochrani, or the Cochran Rustic. y 
The habit of the caterpillar is the same as that of the Climbing 
Rustic, though it is evident from my observations that many species 
possess a climbing and ordinary cutting habit. This is probably the 
case with this species, from the fact that the larva from which Dr. 
Harris reared the moth which he described, was one of several that 
fie7dTndZweTgarden gr0Und ° abbageS ’ P^-hills, the com 
The general color of the larva is dingv ash gray, with the side^ 
darker than the rest of the body. The top of the tody has a little 
noli nation to a shade of flesh color, while on each segment there are 
?' gbt s 5l? 11 ' bIa ,y> shining spots, from each of which arises a short 
air. When full grown it is a little over an inch in length The 
motas issue from the ground in July and August. The following is 
Dr. Harris’s description cf the moth : 8 s 
. i, T he f ore w ings are reddish gray, crossed bv five wavy black- 
are douhto’- tb 6 ^ ‘a? ° f whi ° h ’ and general{ > 7 ‘he fourth also, 
mfddtohf iu - W ° ordl " ar y s P? ts - and » ‘bird oval spot near the 
“Y ddIe , u the 'y ln g> are bordered with black. The hind wings are 
crescent' andfhe" 8 i. br0W £, bebind ’ and have a amal1 cfntral 
crescent, and the veins dusky. The head and thorax are chinchilla 
—14 
