FIELD BOOK OF INSECTS. 



Larvag of Ruzophera semifuneralis bore under bark of 

 plum and cherry. 



PTEROPHORID^ 



If I should ever take up Lepidoptera as a hobby, I might 

 be tempted to specialize on these delicate "Plume Moths." 

 The adults may be recognized by the fact that their 

 wings, at least the hind ones, are split so as to form plumes; 

 they are all small and long-legged. The larvae suggest 

 miniature Arctiids but, in addition to structural differ- 

 ences, they may be distinguished from Woolly-bears by 

 their habit of living in tubes and loose webs. The pupas 

 are soft, hairy, and hang by their tails like butterfly chrysa- 

 lids, although a few make an attempt at constructing 

 cocoons. The family is not a large one; less than twenty 

 species have been recorded from New Jersey, for example, 

 and, with the exception of periscelidactylus, none seem to 

 be very common. 



See Plate LXI. Once again we quote 



Oxyptilus peri- ffom Riley s model rep orts on the Noxious, 



scelidactylus . J . ' 



beneficial ana other insects oj the otate of 



Missouri: "The larva of the Grape-vine Plume invariably 

 hatches soon after the leaves begin to expand ; and though it 

 is very generally called the Leaf-folder (from the fact that 

 the larvae live in a nest made by folding several leaves to- 

 gether), it must not be confounded with the true Leaf-folder 

 [Psychomorpha epimensis of the Agaristidas], which does its 

 principal damage later in the season. At first the larva 

 of our Plume is smooth and almost destitute of hairs, but 

 after each moult the hairs become more perceptible, and 

 when full grown the larva [has] hairs arising from a trans- 

 verse row of warts, each joint having four above and six 

 below the breathing pores. After feeding for about three 

 weeks, our little worm fastens itself securely by the hind 

 legs to the underside of some leaf or other object, and, 

 casting its hairy skin, transforms to the pupa state. This 

 pupa, with the lower part of the three or four terminal 

 joints attached to a little silk previously spun by the 

 worm, hangs at a slant of about 40. It is of peculiar 

 and characteristic form, being ridged and angular, with 



214 



