THE INSECTS OF NEW JERSEY. 431 



Super-family SATURNOIDEA. 







These are all large moths, and among them are our American silk 

 spinners. They are heavy-bodied, clumsy species as a rule, with small 

 retracted heads, mouth parts so aborted as to be unfit for feeding and 

 body densely clothed with scales and hair. 



There are three families: The "Saturniidas" are the largest of the 

 species, expanding up to six inches or more, the wings are large and 

 broad, with usually a transparent discal spot, and the antennae are 

 pectinated to the tip, with two long branches on each side of each joint. 

 The caterpillars are all silk spinners and form a large, dense cocoon, in 

 which the pupal stage is passed. 



The "Ceratocampidse" are quite different in appearance. They have 

 narrower wings, pointed at the apex, there, are no hyaline spots, and the 

 antennae have the pectinations shorter, confined to the basal half; but 

 still two branches on each side of each joint. The caterpillars are fur- 

 nished with horns or other processes, and some of them are very large 

 and formidable in appearance. None of them are silk spinners, and the 

 pupae are formed under ground. 



The "Hemileucidse" are represented by a single species only, black 

 with a partly transparent central band on the wings, the antennae pec- 

 tinated, with very short joints and single branches on each side of each 

 joint. The caterpillars are set with bristly spines and form a cocoon. 



Several of the larvaa of this series feed on cultivated plants and 

 orchard trees, but none are really injurious. Their large size makes 

 them easily visible, and hand-picking is usually the best method of get- 

 ting rid of them. The species of "Anisota" sometimes become tempo- 

 rarily abundant in oak woods and may strip considerable areas, but they 

 do no permanent harm. 



Family SATURNIIDJE. 



There has been some shifting of generic names in this family, but the 

 species are unchanged, and the changes are so obvious that the syno- 

 nyms are not given. 



PHILOSAMIA Grt. 



P. cynthja Dru. Common near Jersey City and for some distance in its 

 vicinity. Also taken at Paterson, at Trenton and near Philadelphia, 

 but has not reached New Brunswick nor any of the cities or towns 

 remote from the larger centres of population. Mr. Davis records it 

 from Staten Island, and it is quite possible that it has a foothold at 

 other points near the coast. It is an importation from China, and 

 has never really established itself in the country at large. The 

 caterpillar feeds chiefly upon the "Ailanthus," or "tree of heaven." 

 sometimes known as "tallow-tree" from its odor when in bloom, and 

 there are two annual broods, the winter being passed in the pupal 

 stage. 



