674 



AN INTRODUCTION TO ENTOMOLOGY 



of the wings (Fig. 837) is very different from that of any other insect 



that occurs in this country. 



The larvae feed upon the leaves of live-oaks, and sometimes occur 



so abundantly as to almost strip the trees of their foliage. They are 



said to feed singly, and appear to make little if any use of the anal 



feet as a means of loco- 

 motion, generally carry- 

 ing the last segment of the 

 body elevated in the air. 



Family 

 NOTODONTID^ 



The Prominents 



This family includes 

 moths of moderate size, 

 only a few of the larger 

 ones expanding more 

 than 50 mm. The body 

 is rather stout and dense- 

 ly clothed with hair, and 

 the legs, especially the 

 femora, are clothed with 

 long hairs. The wings 

 are strong, and not very 

 broad, the anal angle of 

 the hind wings rarely 

 reaching the end of the 

 abdomen. In their gen- 

 eral appearance many of 

 these moths bear a strong resemblance to noctuids ; but they can be 

 easily distinguished from the Noctuidas by the position of vein M2 

 of the fore wings, which 

 does not arise nearer to 

 vein Cu than to vein R, 

 as it does in that family ; 

 and the fact that in this 

 family veins Sc+Ri and 

 Rs of the hind wings do 

 not coalesce (Fig. 838). 

 The first anal vein is 

 wanting in both fore and 

 hind wings ; and in some _ 

 species an accessory cell is present in the fore wings. 



In some species the front wings have a prominence or backward 

 projecting lobe on the inner margin, which suggested the common 

 name of prominents for these insects (Fig. 839). The name is more 

 generally appropriate, however, for the larvae, as a much larger pro- 

 portion of them than of the adults bear striking prominences. 



Fig. 



zdA 



-Wings of HypercEschra stragula. 



Fig. 839. — Pheosia rimosa. 



