FAMILY EPIPLEM 1 D/E 
“ And I will purge thy mortal grossness so, 
That thou shalt like an airy spirit go. 
Peaseblossom! Cobweb! Moth! and Mustardseed!” 
Shakespeare. —Midsummer Night's Dream, III, i. 
This is a family of small moths in many respects closely allied 
to the Geometridce , so far as the structure and general appearance 
of the mature insects are concerned. The larvae are, however, 
quite different. The family has been described as follows by 
Hampson, “The Moths of India,” Vol. Ill, p. 121: 
“ Proboscis and frenulum present. Fore wing with vein 1 a 
separate from 1 b\ 1 c absent; 5 from or from above the middle of 
the discocellulars; 7 widely separated from 8, and usually stalked 
with 6. Hind wing with two internal veins; vein 5 from or from 
above the middle of the discocellulars; 8 free from the base. 
Larvce with five pairs of prolegs and sparsely clothed with 
hair.” 
The family is much better represented in the tropics of the 
New World than in our territory, and even better represented in 
the tropics of the Old World than of the New. Only four genera 
are known to occur within the United States, Philagraula, Cal- 
li^ia, Calledapteryx , and Schidax. Of these we have selected one 
for purposes of illustration. 
Genus CALLEDAPTERYX Grote 
(1) Calledapteryx dryopterata Grote, Plate XLII, Fig. 17, $. 
Syn. erosiata Packard. 
This little moth, which may easily be distinguished by its 
deeply eroded or scalloped wings, is not uncommon in the Appa¬ 
lachian subregion. It has the habit of-alighting upon old rails 
and the trunks of trees, and, before composing itself on its new 
station, of waving its wings three or four times upward and 
downward. This peculiar habit enables the collector to quickly 
recognize it. 
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