LEPIDOPTERA. 403 



7, Feather-winged Moths. {AlucUw.) 



The last tribe of Lepidopterous insects remaining to be 

 noticed, contains the Alucitje of Linnaeus, or feather-winged 

 moths, called Pterophorid.e by the French naturalists. These 

 moths are easily known by their wings being divided length- 

 wise into narrow, fringed branches, resembling feathers. The 

 fore wings in the genus Pterophorus are split, nearly half way, 

 into two, and the hind wings are divided, to the shoulder-joint, 

 into three feathers ; and each of the wings, in Alucita, consists 

 of six feathers, connected only at the joint. The antennae of 

 these moths are slender and tapering; the tongue is long; the 

 feelers are two in number, and of moderate length; and the 

 body and legs are very long and slender. When at rest their 

 wings do not cover the body, but stand out from it on each 

 side, not spread however, but folded together like a fan, so that 

 only the outer part of each of the fore wings is visible. They 

 fly slowly and feebly, some of them by day, and others only 

 at night, and, when on the wing, they somewhat resemble the 

 long-legged gnats. Their caterpillars are rather short and thick, 

 are clothed with a few hairs, and have sixteen short legs. Most 

 of them live on the leaves of low or herbaceous plants, and, 

 when about to change to chrysalids, they fasten themselves by 

 the hind feet and by a loop over the back, like the Lycaenians. 

 Those which belong to the genus Alucita are said to live in 

 buds, and undergo their transformations in thin, transparent 

 cocoons. The number of species in this tribe is small; and 

 those that are found in this country are so few, and of so little 

 consequence, in an economical point of view, that a particular 

 description of them will not be necessary in this treatise. 



