442 
LEPIDOPTERA. 
these insects in their attempts to obtain shelter and conceal- 
ment. The thorax is slightly convex, but smooth or not 
crested. The antennae of the males are generally beset with 
two rows of short points, like fine teeth, on the under side, 
nearly to the tips. The fore legs are often quite spiny. 
Most of these moths come forth in July and August, and 
soon afterwards lay their eggs in the ground, in ploughed 
fields, gardens, and meadows. Iii Europe it is found that 
the eggs are hatched early in the autumn, at which time the 
little subterranean caterpillars live chiefly on the roots and 
tender sprouts of herbaceous plants. On the approach of 
winter they descend deeper into the ground, and, curling 
themselves up, remain in a torpid state till the following 
spring, when they ascend towards the surface, and renew 
their devastations. The caterpillars of the Agrotidians are 
smooth, shining, naked, and dark-colored, with longitudinal 
pale and blackish stripes, and a few black dots on each ring ; 
some of them also have a shining, horny, black spot on the 
top of the first ring. They are of a cylindrical form, taper- 
ing a little at each end, rather thick in proportion to their 
length, and are provided with sixteen legs. They arc 
changed to chrysalids in the ground, without previously 
making silken cocoons. The most destructive kinds in Eu- 
rope are the caterpillars of the corn rustic or winter dart- 
moth (Agrotis segeturn), the wheat dart-moth (Agrotis tritici), 
the eagle-moth ( Agrotis aquilina ), and the turf rustic or 
antler-moth ( Charceas graminis*'). The first two attack 
both the roots and leaves of winter wheat ; the second also 
destroys buckwheat, and it is stated that sixty bushels of 
mould, taken from a field where they prevailed, contained 
twenty-three bushels of the caterpillars ; those of the eagle- 
moth occasionally prove very destructive in vineyards ; and 
the caterpillars of the antler-moth are notorious for their 
devastations in meadows, and particularly in mountain pas- 
tures. 
* See Kollar's Treatise, pp. 94, 102, 1G6, mid 136. 
( 
