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Cotton-worm Moth
The Cotton-worm Moth is one of a number of insects which annually inflict a vast amount of damage upon the crops in the southern portion of our country. In Prof. Comstock's "Report upon the insects which are injurious to cotton," published in 1879, and in the "Fourth Report of the United States Entomological Commission," there is given a great deal of valuable and interesting information in regard to this species. Much may also be learned about it from the study of the "Missouri Reports" published by the late Prof. C. V. Riley. The range of the insect is very broad. It sometimes, though very rarely, occurs as far north as Canada. From this northernmost location it has been found ranging southward as far as Argentina. It sometimes appears to migrate in swarms. A number of years ago, during a heavy snowstorm in November, myriads of the moths suddenly appeared in the city of Pittsburgh, and they came flying in the evening to the electric lights. From one store the proprietor said that he had swept them out by the quart. I have a few of the insects which thus appeared, and the figure on the plate is taken from one of these specimens.