THE BOMBYCINE MOTHS OF AMERICA NORTH OF MEXICO. 



C O N T E In" T S 



I. lutnxliictioii. 

 II. Hints on the mode of EYoliitiou of the Bristles, 

 (SpiiK'S, and Tubercles of Nototloutian and other 

 Caterpillars. 



III. On Certain Points in the external Anatomy of ISom- 



liycine Larva>. 



IV. On the Ineongrneuee between the Larral and Adult 



Characters of Notodoutiau.s. 

 V. Inheritance of Characters aciiuired during the Life- 

 time of Lopidopterous Larvie. 



VI. Geograiihical Distrilnitiou of the American Noto- 

 dontida'. 

 VII. Phylogeny of the Lepidoptera. 



VIII. Attempt at a new Classification of the Lepidoptera. 

 IX. A rational Nomenclature of the Veins of the Wings 



of In.sects, especially the Lei)idoi)tera. 

 X. Systematic Revision of the Notodontida', -n-ith spec- 

 ial Reference to their Transformatiou.s. 



I.— INTRODUCTION. 



• For some j-ears past tho writer lias been collec ing materials for a geuerai accouur, systematic 

 and develoi3mental, of our i^orth American Bombycine moths. The leading object or motif of 

 the essay has been to collect materials for working ont the origin of the larval forms of the higher 

 Lepidoptera. 



The attempt has been made, so far as material and opportnnity have allowed, to describe in 

 .as detailed a way as possible the transformations of our IJombycine moths, in the light of the 

 recent very suggestive and stimulating work of Weismaiin, entitled Studies in the Theories of 

 Descent (1882). Until within a few years the majority of descriptions of caterpillars have been 

 p.repared simply for the purpose of identification, or for taxonomical uses, and without reference 

 to the ])hilos(iphic or general zoological significance of these changes. The transformations of 

 some of the European Spliiugid;e have been very carefullj' worked out by Weismann, and also by 

 Ponlton, but it is believed that the life histories of the lower, more generalized families usually 

 referred to the Bombyces. especially of the Notodontidte, Ceratocampidie, Satnrniidas Hemileu- 

 cid.ne, Cochliopodida', and Lasiocampida', will bring ont still more striking and valuable results, 

 inasmuch as they, or forms near them now extinct, are believed to be closely similar to the stem 

 forms from which many of the higher Lepidoptera have probably been evolved. 

 The aim therefore in such studies shonld be — 



1. To treat the larv;e as though they were adult, independent animals, and to work out their 

 specific and generic as well as family characters. 



2. To trace the origin of mimetic and protective characters, and to ascertain the time of larval 

 life when they are assumed, involving — 



3. The history of the development of the more specialized sette (hairs), spines, tuWercles, lines, 

 spots, and other markings.' 



'Besides the work of Weismann, compare also the suggestive papers of E. B. Poulton, in Transactions of the 

 Entomological Society of London, 1S84-1!<88, and my papers: Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History, 

 sxiv-v, 1890-91. 



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