LEPIDOPTERA. 263 



(Fig. 309) is very different from that of any other insect 

 that occurs in this country. 



The larvae feed upon the leaves of live-oaks, and some- 

 times occur so abundantly as to almost strip the trees of 

 their foliage. They are said to feed singly, and appear to 

 make little if any use of the anal feet as a means of loco- 

 motion, generally carrying the last segment of the body 

 elevated in the air. 



Family NOTODONTlDyE (No-to-don'ti-dae). 



The Prominents. 



This family includes moths of moderate size, only a few 

 of the larger ones expanding more than two inches. With 

 these moths the body is rather stout and densely clothed 

 with hair, and the legs, especially the femora, are clothed 

 with long hairs. The wings are strong, and not very broad, 

 the anal angle of the hind wings rarely reaching the end of 

 the abdomen. In their general appearance many of these 

 moths bear a strong resemblance to the Owlet Moths or 

 Noctuidae ; but they can be easily distinguished from the 

 Noctuids by the position of vein V 2 of the fore wings, 

 which does not arise nearer to vein VII than to vein III, 

 as it does in that family. 



In some species the front wing has a prominence or 

 backward - project- 

 ing lobe on the in- 

 ner margin, which 

 has suggested the 

 common name of 

 Prominents for 

 these insects (Fig. 



310). The name is FIG. 3I0 .-; 



more generally ap- 

 propriate, however, for the larvae, as a much larger propor- 

 tion of them than of the adults bear striking prominences. 



