244 INSECTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



them would probably be placed by Mr. Kirby in Callimorpha*, 

 from which, however, they differ in their shorter and more robust 

 antennae, always very distinctly feathered, at least in the males. 

 They are distinguished from the rest by having two black spots 

 on the collar, and three short black stripes on the thorax. The 

 largest and the most rare of these moths is the Jlrctia virgo, or 

 virgin tiger-moth. On account of the peculiarly strong and disa- 

 greeable odor which it gives out, it might, with greater propriety, 

 have been named the stinking tiger-moth. It is a very beautiful 

 insect. Its fore-wings expand from two inches to two and a half, 

 are flesh-red, fading to reddish buff, and covered with many stripes 

 and lance-shaped spots of black ; the hind-wings are vermilion- 

 red, with seven or eight large black blotches ; the under-side of 

 the body is black, the upper side of the abdomen vermilion-red, 

 with a row of black spots close together along the top of the back. 

 The caterpillar is brown, and pretty thickly covered with tufts of 

 brown hairs. The moth appears here in the latter part of July 

 and August. 



The Jirge tiger-moth resembles the preceding, but is smaller, 

 and not so highly colored, and the black markings on the fore- 

 wings are smaller, and separated from each other by wider spaces. 

 Its general tint is a light flesh-color, fading to nankin ; the fore- 

 wings are marked with streaks and small triangular spots of black ; 

 the hind-wings are generally deeper colored than the fore-wings, 

 and have from five to seven or eight black spots of different sizes 

 upon them ; there are two black spots on the collar, and three on 

 the thorax, as in the preceding species; the abdomen is of the 

 color of the hind-wings, with a longitudinal row of black dots on 

 the top, another on each side, and two rows, of larger size, be- 

 neath. The wings expand from one inch and three quarters to 

 two inches. I have taken this moth from the twentieth of May 

 till the middle of July. The caterpillar appears here sdmetimes 

 in large swarms, in the month of October, having then become 

 fully grown, measuring about one inch and a half in length, and 



* Mr. Kirby's Callimorpha Parthenicc and Virguncuhi closely resemble the first 

 two or three species which follow. The European pudica, and probably also the 

 Jfemeophila pluntaginis belong to the same group. See Fauna Boreali Americana, 

 Vol. IV., p. 304,305, pi. 4, fig. G. 



