215 
verse line on frontal and prothorax ; abdomen smoky; the dorsum of 
the thorax tufted, the abdomen slightly so in the female ; the male 
with large, rusty-yellow anal tufts. 
Mamestra renigera, Steph.—The figure 8 Minor Moth. 
Fig. 41—Figure 8 Minor Moth. 
The larva is the small White 
Bristly Cut-worm. In his first re¬ 
port, Prof. Riley says of this : “Dur¬ 
ing the month of August in North 
Illinois, a small dirty w T hite cut¬ 
worm may frequently be found 
in flower gardens, where it doubtless 
feeds for the most part on the roots of various flowers. * * * During 
the fore part of August it descends deeper into the ground, and soon 
changes to a very bright shiny, mahogany brow T n chrysalis, from 
which, in about three weeks afterwards, the moth emerges.” 
Comparing the above with my observations, there must be two 
broods of the insects in a season. During the latter part of May last, 
I found a number of these caterpillars in a peach orchard under dead 
grass, along with the larvie o fseveral other species of owlet moths. 
They were fed on the same material as the other cut-worms, w T hich 
they ate readily. The first pupa was formed May 81st, just beneath 
its food on top of the dirt, without any cocoon ; the rest were subter¬ 
ranean. The first moth emerged June 16th, others following from 
day to day, till July 6. 
The caterpillar is, when full grown, about three-fourths of an inch 
long, and is of a drab or yellowish gray color. The moth is small, 
expanding only about an inch, has the fore wings dark gray, with 
three mossy green patches, the first near the base of the wing, less 
distinct than the others, the second covers all but the white boundary 
line of the reniform, the third is near the hind angle. 
Spec. char. Larva. —Length, about .75 of an inch. Color, drab or yel¬ 
lowish gray. On the back, a broad band a little lighter, with a line 
of elliptic spots down the center about one-third the width of the 
body. These spots consist, when examined with a glass, of four lon¬ 
gitudinal lines, the two center full, while the two external run to 
points at the juncture of the segments, but are full width in the mid¬ 
dle of the segments. From the subdorsal region to the stigmata, there 
are three lines, as follows: First, a dark brown line, then a very narrow 
light line, and last a dark drab or yellowish gray. The substigmatal 
line is light gray, the under part of the body dark yellowish gray, legs 
brown, prolegs with dark at the base. Head and cervical shield, 
darker than the general color. On each segment there are stiff yel¬ 
lowish bristles arising from the usual piliferous spots. 
Moth .—Expanse of wings 1.10 inches. Ground color of fore wings 
dark gray; in fresh specimens often very dark, with a purplish tinge, 
except the central part, where the tinge is brown. In these the trans¬ 
verse shade is absorbed in the brown tinge. In lighter specimens the 
gray has less of the purple tinge, and the brown in the middle of the 
