LEPIDOPTERA HETEROCERA. 71~> 



whose larvae are interesting both in their coloration and in the peculiar 

 attitudes they assume. They usually bear a horn posteriorly anddorsally. 

 The pupa comes to rest in the earth and is unprotected by a cocoon. 

 Acherontia atropos, the Death's head moth, gives out a curious squeak. 

 Other British genera are Sphinx, Deilephila, Choerocampa, Smerinthus and 

 Macroglossa. 



Fam. 1(3. Cocytiidae. A very small family of one genus Cocytia with 

 some four species confined to a limited region of New Guinea. They are 

 very rare and little is known of their life-history. 



Fam. 17. Notodontidae. Largish moths whose filamentous anteiinat- 

 are sometimes pectinate in the male. The sub-costal nervure of the hind- 

 wing leaves the radial after the middle of the cell. This is a large family, 

 including some species with peculiar larvae. These are in some cases with 

 out the last pair of pro-legs, and the hinder end of the body is carried in 

 an elevated position which is enhanced in the Puss-moth caterpillar (Centra 

 vinula) by the protrusion of a pair of extensile tubes. Tubercles or humps 

 are common on the dorsal surface which accounts for the common name 

 ' Prominents." Some species, as C. vinula, spin tough cocoons, which are 

 softened by an outpouring of a corrosive fluid from the alimentary canal 

 of the emerging imago. Many species have naked pupae which pupate 

 underground. The imagos are as a rule stout with hairy legs and incon- 

 spicuous coloration. They are almost cosmopolitan, but are not found in 

 New Zealand and Polynesia. Gluphisia, Ptilophora, Pterostoma, Lophopterij.i 

 and Notodonta are British genera. 



Fam. 18. Cymatophoridae. The second median nervure of the fore- 

 wing emerges from the cell mid-way between the first and third. The 

 emergence of the other nervures is not evenly spaced. Frenulum and 

 first maxillae well developed. Antennae filiform. This family is small, 

 and its members nocturnal in their habits. In structure it approaches the 

 Noctuidae. It is well represented in the Northern Hemisphere. Thyatira, 

 < 'ymatophora and Asphalia are British. 



Fam. 19. Sesiidae. Antennae clubbed, first maxillae well developed 

 but with no palps. Frenulum present. Three anal nervures in hind-wing, 

 one and a portion of a second in the fore-wing. The Clearwings are re- 

 markable for large transparent areas, often on both pairs of wings, free 

 from scales. This gives a superficial likeness to some of the Hymenoptera. 

 The larvae have ten pro-legs. They burrow into and eat wood, and beint; 

 thus concealed are hairless and without colour. The pupa has its limbs 

 comparatively free and is unusually mobile ; it is protected by a cocoon 

 of small wood chips. The imagos fly by day. British genera are .sW,, 

 and Trochilium, and doubtfully Sciapteron. 



Fam. 20. Tinaegeriidae. The wings inserted far back on the thorax 

 as in Sesiidae but the shape of the wings and wing-fringes resemble those 

 of the Tineidae. An exotic family only recently recognized and about 

 which little is known. Oedemata poda. 



Fam. 21. Syntomidae. Fore-wings much longer than hind-wings, in 

 which respect this family resembles the Zygaenidae, but transparent spots 

 due to absence of scales are found on the dark-coloured wings. Bipectinat i 

 antennae in the male. A family of day-flying moths which frequently 

 resemble Hymenoptera. Like the latter their body is often highly 

 decorated, and in some species drawn out into a long slender structure like 

 an ovipositor. The larvae have tufts of hairs and form a silken 

 cocoon. No British species. Trichura, Naclia, Syntomis, Dycladia. 



