LEPIDOPTERA. 



Gil 



Fig ISO.— Chelonia villica. 



Sotodonta, Ochs., has the inner margin of tlie wing denticulated, [whence these insects are called Promi- 

 nent Moths]. 



Orgyia, Ochs., differs from the preceding by having the females almost wingless. B. aniiqva, Fab. [the 

 Vapourer Moth]. 



Limacodes, Latr., difl'ers from all in having the caterpillars like Wood-lice, and which seem also to represent 

 the Polyommati amongst the diurnal species. //. Testwto and Asellue, Fab. 



/ iche, Schrank., the caterpillars of which form portable cases of silk, to which they affix bits of stick, thus 

 resembling the nests of the Caddice-flies. Some of the species, from the East Indies and Senegal, are very remark- 

 able in their forms. 

 Tlie terminal Pseudo-Bombyees have the proboscis very distinct and elongated. 



C/ieloiiin, God. (Arctia, Schr., Byprepia, Ochs.), 

 has the wings roof-like'; the antennae pectinated in 

 the males ; the palpi very hirsute, and the proboscis 

 short. 



Jl. caja, the Great Garden Tiger Moth, having 

 brown upper-wings marked with white, and red 

 under-wings spotted with blue black. The larva; are 

 very common, and are termed Woolly Bears. 



Callimorp/ia, Latr. (Eyprepia, Ochs.), has the 



wings roof-like, but the antenna; are only serrated 



in the males; the palpi only slightly squamose, and 



the proboscis long. B. Jacob<e<e, a very common 



species, black, the upper wings having a line and two carmine red spots ; the under wings of the latter colour, 



bordered with black. 



Lithosia, Fab., has the wings horizontal in repose. 



The fourth section of the Nocturna, that of th^ Aposur.e. (hirers at once from all the rest of tlie 

 order in the caterpillars being destitute of any anal feet, the extremity of the body terminating in a 

 point, which in many is forked, or furnished with two lung articulated appendages, forming a kind of 

 tail. In respect to the proboscis, palpi, and antennae, the .Moths differ but little from tlie preceding. 



Dicrnnonra, God. {Centra, Schr.. Harpyia, Ochs.), have the external habit of Chelonia or Sericaria, and the 

 extremity of the body of the larva is terminated by two tails. [C Vinula, the Puss -Moth.] 



Platypteryx, Lasp. (Drepana, Scur.), more resembles Phalaena, having the fore-wings hooked at the tips and the 

 body slender; the body of the larva- terminates in a point. In respect to tlie latter state, these Mollis therefore 

 resemble the Dicranourae ; but, in their perfect state, that of Phalenites. Ph. falcataria, lacertinaria, &c. 



The fifth section of the Nocturnal Lepidoptera that of the NocrtLSLlTES, Latr., resembles the pre- 

 ceding in the wings, but differs in having a corneous proboscis rolled up in a spiral direction, and 

 mostly very long; palpi terminated suddenly by a very small joint, slenderer than the preceding, which 

 is much larger, and very compressed. The body is generally clothed with scabs rather than with 

 wool ; the thorax is often crested above, and the abdomen is of an elongate conic form; tlie antennae 

 are generally slender and simple. Their flight is very rapid, and some species fly during tlie day. 



The caterpillars have mostly sixteen feet ; sonic have two or four less, hut the anal pair is never 

 wanting; and in those with onlj twelve feet tlie anterior pair of the membranous legs is a- lai 

 the following. The majority of these caterpillars inclose themselves in a cocoon. They compose the 

 ■ a Phalama-Noctua, Linn. All the generic groups established recently, and which are cbaracti r- 

 ized rather from the caterpillar than the perfect state, may he reduced to the two following 

 subgenera. 



Erebut, Latr. [Thytania, Dalm., Xocfua, Fab.), has the wings always extended and horizontal, and the last Joint 

 of the palpi lung, slender, and naked. These are verj huge moths, ull of which are exotic except one Spanish 

 species. 



NocTUA, 



lias the last joint of tlie palpi very short, and clothed with scales, like the preceding. The majority have the 

 larva; 16-footed, as the Red Under-wing Moths, Noetua [Catocala] iponta, be. Others have on 1) t- 

 and the imago is ornamented with golden or silvery spots, such as the Burnished Brass Moth, Noetua PI 

 Chrytites, be. The larvae of some, as JV. Verbaeet, AMnthU, be., feed on the lowers of the plants after which 

 they are named. Others have the antennae feathered, as N. grantinU, the larva of whim is rerj destructive to 

 pastures in Sweden rhere]. Tins genus is divided by Ochsenbeimer into forty-two genera, being for the 



most part equivali nt to tlie -roups proposed in the systematic catalogue of the Lepidoi I ana, of which, 



however, the nature of our work does not allow the details, After tlie removal of Erebus, LatreiQe, in a 

 suggests that the Nocruae form two series; the first having partially geometrical larvae, and the others having 

 16-footed larvae, both, however, terminating with species conducting to Herminia and Pj ralis. 

 Bombyx CyUopoda, Dalm., forms a new and anomalous subgenus. 



H It J 



