808 



AN INTRODUCTION TO ENTOMOLOGY 



Family EUCLEID^^ 



The Slug-Caterpillar Moths 



One often finds on the leaves of shrubs or trees, elliptical or oval 



larvce that resemble slugs in the form of the body and in their glidirjg 



motion. As these are the larvae of moths they have been 



# termed shig-cater pillars; but they present very little 

 similarity in form to other caterpillars. The resemblance 

 to slugs is greatly increased by the fact that the lower sur- 

 face of the body is closely applied to the object upon which 

 Fig. 738. the larv^a is creeping, the thoracic legs being small and the 

 prolegs wanting. There is, however, on the ventral side 

 of the abdomen a series of sucking-disks, which serve the purpose of 

 prolegs. The head of the larva is small and retractile. In some 

 species the body is naked; in others it is clothed with tufts of hairs; 

 and in others there is an armature of branching spines. Several 

 species bear venomous setee. 



The larvae when full-grown spin very dense cocoons of brown 

 silk; these are egg-shaped or nearly spherical, and are furnished at 

 one end with a cap which 

 can be pushed aside by the 

 adult when it emerges (Fig. 

 738). The cocoons are usu- 

 ally spun between leaves. 

 The moths are of me- 

 dium or small size ; the body 

 is stout, and the wings are 

 heavily and loosely scaled. 

 The maxillce are vestigial. 

 These moths vary greatly in 

 appearance, and many of 

 them are very prettily col- 

 ored. 



Considerable variation 

 exists in the venation of the 

 wings in this family (Fig. 

 739 and Fig. 740). The base 

 of media may be preserved 

 or wanting; in some species 

 it is forked within the discal 

 cell, in others not. There is 

 also considerable variation 

 in the coalescence of the 

 branches of radius, but 



veins R3 and R4 coalesce to a greater extent than any other branches 

 of this vein. There is no accessory cell. In the hind wings veins So 



*This family is termed the Cochlidiidae by some writers, and by others the 

 Limacodidae. 



Fig. 739. — Wings of Adoneta spinuloides. 



