732 A N INTROD UCTION TO ENTOMOLOG Y 



The males are bluish black, with the markings indistinct. The larva 

 feeds upon the larch. When mature it is of a dull brown color and 

 less than 40 mm. in length. When extended, the front of the first 

 thoracic segment is pale green, and the incision between the second 

 and third is shining black. The larva matures during July. The 

 cocoon is ash-gray, flattened and moulded to the limb to which it is 

 attached, and partially surrounding it. The moths appear in August 

 or September. The winter is passed in the egg state. 



The American lappet, Epicnaptera americdna — This species is 



found from the Atlantic to the Pacific. It is somewhat variable, 



and the dift'erent varieties were formerly regarded as distinct species. 



The moth (Fig. 936) is reddish brown, with the inner angle of the 



front wings and the costal margin of the hind wings deeply notched. 



Beyond the middle of each wing there is a 



pale band edged with zigzag, dark brown 



lines. The larva lives upon apple, cherry, 



oak, birch, maple and ash. When full grown 



it measures 60 mm. in length and 12 mm. in 



breadth. The upper side is slate-gray, 



mottled with black, with two transverse 



pig_ ()T^e.— Epicnaptera scarlet bands, one on the second and one on 



americayia. the third thoracic segments. There is a 



black spot on each end and in the middle 



of each of these bands. The larva is found during July and August. 



It is said that the cocoons are attached to limbs like those of Tolype; 



but the larvae of this species that we have bred made their cocoons 



between leaves, or in the folds of the muslin bag enclosing the limb 



upon which they were feeding. The species passes the winter in the 



pupa state; and the moth appears in June, when it lays its eggs upon 



the leaves of the trees it infests. 



SUPERFAMILY HESPERIOIDEA 



The Skippers 



The skippers are so-called on account of their peculiar mode of 

 flight. They fly in the daytime and dart suddenly from place to place. 

 When at rest most species hold the wings erect in a vertical position 

 like butterflies ; in many the fore wings are thus held while the hind 

 wings are extended horizontally; and a few extend both pairs of 

 wings horizontally. The head is wide; the antennas are widely 

 separated; they are thread-like, and enlarged toward the tip; and in 

 most cases the extreme tip is pointed and recurved, forming a hook. 

 The abdomen is usually stout, resembling that of a moth rather than 

 that of a butterfly. The skippers are most easily distinguished by 

 the peculiar venation of the wings, vein R of the fore wings being 

 five-branched, and all of the branches arise from the discal cell 

 (Fig. 937). In some butterflies all of the branches of vein R appear 

 to arise from the discal cell; but this is because two of the branches 



