4 HAUSTELI.ATA. — I.KPIDOPTERA. 



present family, the back in those being gibbous, and the posterior 

 legs slightly abbreviated. 



The British genera (the names of which I have retained as in my 

 Catalogue) may be thus characterized : — 

 Alts anticis falcatis, 



margine postico, 



denticulato: . . 243. Platypteryx. 



integro : . . 244. Drepana. 



haud falcatis : 245. Cilix. 



Genus CCXLIII. — Platypteryx, Laspeyres. 



Palpi very minute, scarcely projecting beyond the dense pile with which the 

 head is clothed : maxilla almost rudimentary. Antennae short, bipeciinated, 

 the pectinations abbreviated towards the apex, where they are nearly 

 obliterated; those of the females also bipectinated, the pectinations 

 very short and scarcely lessened towards the apex : head with a tuft 

 between the antennae: ei/es rather prominent: wings placed horizon- 

 tally during repose, anterior with their hinder margin irregularly denti- 

 culate and falcated at the apex ; the disc with two transverse lines, posterior 

 slightly emarginate on the hinder margin: legs short; iibice pilose, inter- 

 mediate and posterior with a single pair of spurs at the apex. Larva broad, 

 attenuated in the middle and towards the tail, the back slightly gibbous. 

 Pupa folliculated. 



The irregularly dentate posterior margin of the insects of this 

 genus, — which is synonymous with Prionia of Hubner, — sufficiently 

 distinguish them from the other genera of this family, from which 

 they also differ by having dark oblique slender lines on the anterior 

 wings, the antennae in both sexes bipectinated; the larva rather 

 dissimilar in habit, Sec. 



Sp. 1. lacertula. Alls anticis ochraceo-griseis, lineolis obsoletis undatis , strigisque 

 duahus punctoque interjecto saturatioribus. (Exp. Alar. 1 unc. 1 — 4 lin.) 



Ge. lacertula. Wien. Verz.—?h. lacertinaria. Don. vii. pi. 251. f. 2.— PI. 

 lacertula. Steph. Catal. pt. ii. p. 153. No. 6749. 



appears to be less dependant upon structure than upon the variations of mark- 

 ing and colour : his groups are therefore in many instances very artificial : 

 nevertheless as his work has hitherto only been occasionally, and not in all 

 cases correctly, referred to, I conceive an abstract of its contents, so far as 

 relates to the British species, as divided and named, nearly twenty years since, 

 may be useful. I am indebted to my friend J. G. Children, Esq. for the loan 

 of this valuable work. 



