220 
white of the hind wings is not so clear, and the veins are quite dark 
to the body. The larva, having more the appearance of a cut-worm 
than the Fall Army-worm, has two triangular dark patches on the 
back of each segment. They do not congregate in multitudes when 
.ding. Though quite a general feeder, I have not known it to occui 
m sufficient numbers as to be regarded as injurious. I have seen one 
specimen from the northern part of the State, with a paper on the 
pin marked, “Corn Cut-worm Moth,” but there is nothing further from 
which we may draw any conclusions in regard to this particular case. 
Nephelodes violans, GuenThe Violet Nepelodes. 
Several times during the latter part of April, and through May, I 
found, while hunting for other insects, a robust naked caterpillar hid 
under dead grass. When full grown this larva was an inch and three- 
quarters long, the space above the stigmata consisting of four broad, 
dark brown stripes, alternating with three narrow, grayish-yellow 
ones. While in confinement these caterpillars fed upon corn, grass 
and knot-grass (Polygonum aviculare ), which they ate without seeming 
to prefer one more than another. In habit the larvae resembled cut¬ 
worms, feeding mostly at night and hiding during the day, some¬ 
times under the rubbish of the box, at others in the dirt. There 
seems to be but one brood in a season, pupating in June and the 
moths issuing the following September. The moth has dark, purplish- 
brown fore wings; the middle of the wings a more distinct brown; 
the hind wings a smoky-brown base, with the outer portion blackish. 
There is, when the insect is fresh, quite a distinct purplish cast over 
the whole body. 
I have no evidence that this insect ever becomes sufficiently num¬ 
erous to be injurious, but, as it seems to be a general feeder upon some 
plants that are beneficial to man, and as it is spread over a wide range 
of country, it may do so. In that case we may judge from its cut¬ 
worm habits that the remedies that serve to keep them in check will 
answer for this. 
Spec. char. Larva .—Length 1.75 inches. Form robust; the head four- 
sevenths the width of the middle of the body. Above the lower edge 
of stigmata are four broad dark brown longitudinal stripes, alternat¬ 
ing with three narrow grayish yellow ones, the latter being in the 
dorsal and subdorsal regions, and lighter at the extremities of the 
body than in the middle; the two lateral stripes are slightly mottled 
with a lighter color, especially back of the stigmata; under part of 
the body yellowish gray; head the same, marked a little with brown. 
Cervical shield dark, almost black, with the light lines narrow and 
bright. 
Moth —Expanse of wings 1.75 inches. Color of the fore wings, head, 
prothorax and thorax above, and the underparts of the body> a rich 
dark brown, tinged with purple, with a little grayish in some speci¬ 
mens. In the center of the fore wings is a brown speck, without the 
purple, that reaches from the t. a,, to the t. p. line, and includes the 
reniform and orbicular. Hind wings are blackish slate colored in the 
