AI.IK ITID.F.. '3G0 



Family IV.— ALUCITID.E, Leach. 



Antenna: rather short, slender, setaceous, in the males slightly pubescent 

 beneath. Palpi two, triarticulate, the terminal joint sometimes short and 

 truncate, or long and acute : maxjV/o? rather long : AmJ small, subglobose, 

 sometimes with a conical protuberance in front: eyes occasionally minute, 

 but generally very large : thorax not crested : wings for the most part placed 

 horizontally during repose, more or less cleft mto lobes, which, with the 

 exception of the costal one, are ciliated, on both margins ; the lobes vary iu 

 number, being either two, three, five, or six, on the anterior wings, and 

 three or six on the posterior ; but very rarely the wings are entirely undi- 

 vided, and during repose are erected: Z>o(/f/ very long and .slender, linear 

 in the males, subfusiform in the females, and very acute : legs very long 

 and slender : posterior tibiee with two pair of spurs, placed one about the 

 middle, the other at the apex, generally rather long, but occasionally very 

 minute. Larva inactive, broad, slightly pilose, and furnished with sixteen 

 legs : pupa naked, and suspended vertically by a thread, or pilose and inclosed 

 in a cocoon. 



The insects of this family, the last of the Lepidoptera, are distin- 

 guished, with the exception of one genus, by having the wings more 

 or less divided into plumelets or feathers, the anterior being cleft 

 into from two to six, and the posterior from three to six — there are 

 other peculiarities, which again are wanting in one genus (Alucita) ; 

 the length of the body and legs, in proportion to the wings : the 

 latter are sometimes erected during repose, at others displayed 

 horizontally : in one genus, Agdistes, they are undivided, but their 

 length, and from their being folded, at once distinguish them from 

 tlie Tineidas ; and in this genus the posterior legs have very small 

 spurs, and the palpi are stouter and truncate at the apex ; the latter 

 are two in number in all the genera. The larva is fleshy, rather 

 plump, clothed sparingly with somewhat long hairs, and is very 

 sluggish: the pupa is sometimes suspended perpendicularly, as in 

 the PapilionidcE, with a thread round it, and in others placed in a 

 cocoon. 



.-l/w integris 383. Agdistes. 



fissis ; posticis trifidis 3}i4. PrEROPHonus. 



5- vel C- fidis . . . . 385. Ai.ucita. 



Haustki.lata. Vol.. IV., Jan. 31st, 1835. 2 a 



