COXTEXTS. 



CHAPTER IX. 



DAY-FLYING MOTHS. 



Lepidoptera divided into Rhopalocera (butterflies, or day-flyers) and 

 Heterocera (moths, or night-flyers) — Antennae unsatisfactory as a 

 classificatory basis : no one set of characters will serve as an infal- 

 lible guide to distinguish moths from butterflies — " The series of 

 affinities in nature a concatenation or continuous series " — This 

 more or less gradual blending a strong argument in favour of com- 

 munity of descent — Castniidte in some respects combine the cha- 

 racters of both Lepidopterous divisions — Have most affinities with 

 moths — Megathymus yiicccr, the Yucca Borer, an interesting 

 aberrant form — Regarded by some as a genuine butterfly — Habi- 

 tat, appearance, habits — Depredations committed : white powdery 

 bloom : funnel-like tube, characteristic of larva — ^Brilliant and 

 graceful Uraniid;^ proved to belong to the Heterocera — Urania 

 boisduvalii, one of the most beautiful Lepidoptera known ; and 

 others — Migratory habits of day-flying moths ... 



CHAPTER X. 



THE CASE MOTHS (PSVCHID^). 



In Structure of female, and in habit, the strangest and most abnormal 

 of all Lepidoptera — Females have become degenerate — Young sack- 

 bearers at home — Ingenuity in construction of case — Mctura 

 elongata a most interesting architect — Lictor Moth — Aniinula 

 huebncri — Curious case of A7iimula herrichii — Enlargement, re- 

 pair, locomotion, temporary suspension, complete withdrawal, 

 mode of moving and retaining position within case — Coming of 

 Age of male— Supposed assistance of long sticks at event — After- 

 life, and general characteristics — Want of homogeneousness in 

 perfect state of insects of this group— Probable cause of dis- 

 appearance of beauty of male — Singular rarity of moths consider- 

 ing abundance of cases — Females perpetual prisoners, living and 

 dying within larva habitaculum 



