246 THE STUDY OF INSECTS 



hind wings is wanting. The larva feeds upon lichens, and may be found 

 under loose stones or on the trunks of trees. It is dusky, and thinly 

 covered with stiff, sharp, and barbed black bristles, which grow singly 

 from small warts. The cocoon is thin and silky. 



The banded footman, Illice unifascidta. — This little beauty occurs in 

 the Atlantic States from New York to Texas. The fore wings are lead- 

 colored, and crossed by a yellow band, which extends also along the inner 

 margin to the base of "the wings. The hind wings are pink except the apex, 

 which is lead-colored. There is much variation in the width of the yellow 

 band. 



There. are several closely allied species which are difficult to distin- 

 guish from this one. 



Family Citheroniid^; 

 The Royal-moths 



The royal-moths are stout-bodied and hairy, with sunken heads and 

 strong wings. The species are of medium or large size, some of them 

 being nearly as large as the largest of our moths. In these moths the 

 frenulum is lost and its place is taken by a greatly expanded humeral angle 

 of the hind wing (Fig. 432, p. 285), which, projecting under the fore wing, 

 insures the acting together of the two in flight without the aid of a 

 frenulum. The antenna; of the males are broadly pectinated, but for only 

 little more than half their length. The palpi and the maxilla? are very 

 small. 



The larvae are armed with horns or spines, of which those on the sec- 

 ond thoracic segment, and sometimes also those on the third, are long 

 and curved. These caterpillars eat the leaves of forest trees, and go into 

 the ground to transform, which they do without making cocoons. The 

 rings of the pupa bear little notched" ridges, the teeth of which, together 

 with some strong prickles at the hinder end of the body, assist it in forc- 

 ing itsway upwards out of the earth. 



This is a small family; it is not represented in Europe, and less than 

 twenty species are known to occur in this country. The more common 

 ones are the following. 



The regal-moth Citheronia regdlis. — This is the largest and most mag- 

 nificent of the royal-moths (Fig. 433). The fore wings are olive-colored, 

 spotted with yellow, and with the veins heavily bordered with red scales. 

 The hind wings are orange-red, spotted with yellow, and with a more or less 

 distinctly marked olive band outside the middle. The wings expand from 

 4 to 6 inches. 



When fully grown the larva measures from 4 to 5 inches in length. 

 It is our largest caterpillar, and can be readily recognized by the very 

 long spiny bonis with which it is armed. Those of the mesothorax and 

 metathorax are much longer than the others. Of these there are four on 

 each segment; the intermediate ones measure about f of an inch in 

 length. This larva feeds on various trees and shrubs. It is known in some 

 regions as the hickory homed devil. 



The imperial -moth, Basilona iuipcridlis. — This moth rivals the 

 preceding species in size, expanding from 4 to $] inches. It is sulphur- 

 yellow, banded and speckled with purplish-brown. The full-grown larva 



