MEMOIRS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEISIY OF SCIENCES. 41 



setose warts. He has also (1. c.. Sept., 1890) stated that the warts of Bomhyx mnri in Stage I 

 are " small and degenerate, but true warts of the typical Lasiocampid pattern" (p. l-iO). and 

 for this reason he associates the Bombvcids with the Eupterotidie, Lenioniid;e. Lviuantriidie. and 

 Lasiocampidffi. Grote" had previously (June, 1890) drawn attention to the close resemblance 

 of the warts of Endromis, Stag-e I, to those of B. mori^ .Stage I, and claimed that both of tiie 

 families which these genera represent should be removed from the Saturniides and placed in 

 his superfamily Bombycides, which, however, contains many families which at present we should 

 exclude from the Symbombycina. In rearing and studying the transformations of Brah/mxa 

 JKjMjnica it was found that the young larva before molting is armed with multisetose warts of the 

 bombycine type, and for this and other reasons should he associated with the Bombycidte, even 

 though there are differences in the venation, especially the cubitus ("' median") vein. 



It has been throughout a decided mistake to attempt to classify the Lepidoptera on the 

 imagiual characters alone. As abundanth' shown by Doctor Dyar and our own recent e.vperi- 

 ence, the larval characters are the more fundamental and decisive: so also the pupal characters, 

 as shown by Doctor Chapman and myself, the egg also bearing- as a rule characters which are 

 phylogenetic. showing marks of kinship which can not be overlooked. 



The distinguishing characters of the Symbombycina are as follows: The head nm- be (Bom- 

 bycidae) small, not prominent, or (Brahmseidie) faii-ly large and rather prominent and moder- 

 ately wide between the eyes; palpi either reduced (Bombycidie) or well developed. 3-jointed. 

 though not reaching- beyond the front. The antenna- have but a single pair of pectinations to a 

 joint, and these invariably droop, not spreading- out laterally as in the Syssphingina. especially 

 the Saturniidiv. The ma.xilhe are usually short and feeble; in B. mor! atropliied. 



The wings vary much in width and shape, while the medio-cubitus (" median") vein is either 

 three or four branched. 



The eggs vary greatly in shape in different groups, being flattened oval in Bombycidte, 

 hemispherical in Brahma^die. and long cylindrical in Clisiocampa. Their shape in the Eurvpte- 

 rotidie is unknown to us. It should l)e borne in mind that in the stem-forms the eggs of the 

 Ichthyurime are hemispherical, with meridional ribs, the surface of the shell being ornamented 

 with polygonal areas. 



The larvfe all agree in the peculiar shape of the head, a character which has been overlooked 

 by previous authors. It is broad, short, the sides parallel, not rounded, while the epicranial 

 suture is very short compared with that of the Ceratocampida?; also the epicranium is more or 

 less distinctl.y swollen in front, on each side of the epicranial suture, so that the clypeus is 

 sunken. I have thus far been unable to detect any characters of importance in the larval mouth- 

 appendages. The surface of the head is more or less setose, especially so in Lasiocampid^ and 

 Bombycida?. (PI. XLIV. figs. 2-7.) Besides the head-characters the larva- of the different 

 families all agree in the armature. There are among- them no larva- with unisetiferous tubercles 

 e.xcept in the first stage of the stem-form, Ichthyura. but as pointed out ])y Dyar, there are 

 several (about 6-12) seta?; i. e., warts /, //, ///are nudtisetose. 



In the Ichthyurina' the first larval stage is noctuiform; after the first or second molt the 

 warts become developed and bear two or several setie. Th<' ndctiiifui'in characters are cron-dcd 

 hack hi the phylogeiiy of t lie group. 



In the Eurypterotidte. so far as the larvse in this family are known, the caterpillar is denselv 

 hairy, the warts multisetose like an arctian larva. Development is direct, and the group does not 

 become highly specialized. 



In the first to fourth stages of Brahma>ida? these haiiy warts are. on the front and hinder 

 trunk-segments, greatly prolonged into horn-like appendages. In the last stage of Brahma-a the 

 body becomes smooth, unarmed, with mere vestiges of the horns of early lai-val life: in Endromis 

 and B. morl the body is smooth, though the Bombycida- vary in this respect, the body beiiif 

 humped on three segments in Ocinara, and in Theophila lutttani abddininal segments 2-7 and 9 

 bearing each a pair of rather long erect tapering processes. 



« Die Saturniiden ( Xai-hti)l"auenaugen), Mittheilungen ausdem Roemer-uui^fuin, Hildesheiiii, Xo. 6. Jimi. 1896, p. 6. 



