306 
THE STUDY OF INSECTS. 
approach of cold weather they bury themselves in the 
ground and here pass the winter. In the spring they renew 
their attacks on vegetation ; but now, as they are larger and 
in cultivated fields the plants are smaller, their ravages 
quickly attract attention. It would not be so bad if they 
merely destroyed what they eat; but they have the unfortu¬ 
nate habit of cutting off the young plants at the surface of 
the ground, and thus destroy much more than they consume. 
They do their work at night, remaining concealed in the 
ground during the daytime. When full grown they form 
oval chambers in the ground in which they pass the pupa 
state. The moths appear during the months of June, July, 
and August. 
There are some exceptions to these generalizations: some 
species of cut-worms ascend trees during the night and destroy 
the young buds; some pass through two generations in the 
course of a year ; and a few pass the winter in the pupa state. 
Cut-worms can be destroyed by poisoned baits of fresh 
clover or other green vegetation, or with poisoned dough 
made of bran. Much can be done by making holes in the 
ground with a sharpened stick, 
as a broom-handle. The holes 
should be vertical, a foot deep, 
and with smooth sides. On the 
approach of day the cut-worms 
will crawl into such holes to 
hide, and will be unable to crawl 
out again. Climbing cut-worms can be jarred from the 
trees during the night, and caught upon sheets, and then 
destroyed. 
One of our cut-worms, which is known as the Spotted 
Cut-worm, is the larva of the Black-c Owlet, Noctua 
c-nigrum (Noc'tu-a c-ni'grum;. This moth (Fig. 371) is one 
of the most common species attracted to lights. It occurs 
throughout our country and in Europe. 
At the end of the Noctuid series there is placed a group 
