OUTLINES OF ENTOMOLOGY. 



85 



The Clear- winged moths (^geriid^) are mostly of small size and 

 might easily be mistaken for bees or small wasps when on the wing. 

 tFig. 35. 1 They have slender bodies, some- 



times ending in a tuft of long hairs. 

 In some species only the under- 

 wings are transparent, in others 

 there is merely a border of scales 

 around each pair. Among the larvae 



Peach-borer {JEgeria exitiosa), Siy.— after Riley. ^„^ «.,/i „^^^^ ^P +1,^ ™.^»,c,+ i^^^^..,^ 



(I, female: b, male'. we find some oi the worst borers, 



such as the Peach-tree borer {^geria exitiosa, Say.), the Raspberry 

 borer {^.rubi, Riley), and the Pickle worm {Phakellura nitidalis, Oram). 

 The beautiful insects that I have termed " Butterfly Mimics " 

 (Zyg^nid^) can scarcely be distinguished from the genuine butter- 

 flies, except by the pointed antenua3, and even these organs sometimes 

 have a little silken tuft near the tip which helps the deception. They 

 delight in the hottest sunshine, and display very gay colors on their 

 broad wings. The larv.i? are usually transversely striped in black and 

 white with an orange-colored hump on the top of the eleventh segment. 

 Some very injurious species are known as the "Blue caterpillars of the 

 vine." When ready to change they enter the ground or bore into the 

 wood of the grape posts. 



A-mong the spinners (Bombycid^) are most of our largest and 

 most elegant moths, as well as the few species which are in the highest 

 degree valuable, viz., the silk producers. Some of these species ex- 

 pand from six to nine inches. The wings are broad, and sometimes 

 falcate: i. e., hollowed out at the outer edges. They are densely cov- 

 ered with hairs and scales of rich colors. The head is small, and the 

 antennpe beautifully feathered, and are in some species so broad as to 



be mistaken for an additional 

 pair of wings. The mouth parts 

 are undeveloped, and, large as 

 they are, these moths are inca- 

 pable of taking even a sip of 

 nectar. The body is stout and 

 heavy, and the plumy legs rather 

 weak. The magnificent Cecro- 

 pia moth fSamia cecropia, Linn), 

 or the Polyphemus (Telea poly- 

 phemus, Cram.) — named for the 

 fabled one - eyed monster of 



Green-striped Maple worm r^m-,o/« r»ti«,n<^a,rabr) classic pOCtry, bCCaUSC of the 

 after Riley, a, larva; 6, pnpa: c, moth-aU natural ^^.^^^ eye-like Spot that Oma- 



■'^k^^^£:r<-*'S:>*^, 



