332 INSECTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



Those kinds, whereof the females are wingless, or have only 

 very short, scale-like wings, and naked antennae, while the males 

 have large, entire wings, and feathered or downy antenna?, seem 

 to form a distinct group, which may be named Hybernians (Hy- 

 berniad^e), from the principal genus included therein. The 

 caterpillars have only ten legs, six before and four behind ; and 

 they undergo their transformations in the ground. The insects 

 called canker-worms, in this country, are of this kind. The 

 moths, from which they are produced, belong to the genus Ani- 

 sopferyx,* so named because in some species the wings in the two 

 sexes are very unequal in size, and in others the females are 

 wingless. In the late Professor Peck's " Natural History of the 

 Canker-worm," which was published among the papers of " the 

 Massachusetts Society for Promoting Agriculture," and obtained 

 a prize from the Society, this insect is called Phaltena vemata, 

 on account of its common appearance in the spring, and also to 

 distinguish it from the winter moth (Phalana or Cheimatobia 

 brumata) of Europe. In the male canker-worm moth the anten- 

 nae have a very narrow, and almost downy edging, on each side, 

 hardly to be seen with the naked eye. The feelers are minute, 

 and do not extend beyond the mouth. The tongue is not visible. 

 The wings are large, very thin and silky ; and, when the insect 

 is at rest, the fore-wings are turned back, entirely cover the hind- 

 wings, and overlap on their inner edges. The fore-wings are 

 ash-colored, with a distinct whitish spot on the front edge, near 

 the tip ; they are crossed by two jagged, whitish bands, along 

 the sides of which there are several blackish dots ; the outermost 

 band has an angle near the front edge, within which there is a 

 short, faint, blackish line ; and there is a row of black dots, along 

 the outer margin, close to the fringe. The hind-wings are pale 

 ash-colored, with a faint blackish dot near the middle. The 

 wings expand about one inch and a quarter. This is the usual 

 appearance of the male, in its most perfect condition ; by which 

 it will be seen that it closely resembles the Anisopteryx JEs- 

 cularia of Europe. Compared with the latter, I find that our 

 canker-worm moth is rather smaller, the wings are darker, propor- 



■ Literally unequal icing. 



