LEPIDOPTERA 



653 



three parts by fissures extending farther towards the base of the 

 wing. In a species found in Cahfomia, Agdistis adactyla, the wings 

 are not divided. 



One hundred species belonging to this family have been found in 

 America north of Mexico. 



One of our most common species is the gartered plume, Oxyptilus 

 perisceliddctylns. This is a small moth, expanding about 15 mm. 

 It is of a yellowish brown color marked with dull 

 whitish streaks and spots (Fig. 801). The larvas 

 hatch early in the spring and feed upon the newly- 

 expanded leaves of the grape. They fasten together 

 several of them, usually those at the end of a shoot, 

 with fine white silk; between the leaves thus folded 

 the caterpillars live either singly or two or three ^^f ;/,?,VtP„^--!!' 

 together. They become full-grown and change to 

 pup£E early in June. The pupa is not enclosed in a 

 cocoon, but is fastened to the lower side of a leaf by its tail by means 

 of a few silken threads, in nearly the same way the as chrysalids of 

 certain butterflies are suspended. The pupa state lasts about eight 

 days. 



Family ORNEODIDiE 



ptilus peris- 

 celidactylus. 



The Many-plume Moths 



These insects resemble the plume-moths in having the wings 

 fissured; but here the Assuring is carried to a much greater extent 

 than in that family, each wing being divided 

 into six plimies (Fig. 802). 



As yet only a Single species of this family 

 has been found in North America. This is 

 Orneddes hubneri. It is an introduced species. 

 European authors state that the larva feeds 

 on the flowers of Lonicera, Centaurea, and 

 Scabiosa arvensis. It transforms either in 

 the flower-head or in the ground. This species 

 has been mistaken for another European 

 species, Orneodes hexadactyla, and is commonly 

 known under this name. 



Fig. 802. — Orneodes 

 hubneri. 



Family THYRIDID^ 



The Window-winged Moths 



Excepting some subtropical species found in the Gulf States and 

 California our members of this family can be easily recognized by 

 the presence of curious white or yellowish translucent spots upon the 

 wings ; it is these spots that suggest the name window-winged moths 

 for the family. 



