272 MAPLE LEAF CUTTER THE MOTH. 



which may frequently be seen during the month of May, flying 

 by day or resting exposed upon the leaves, in forests and along 

 their borders. 



The moth (plate 4, fig. 5, the cross lines above the left wing indicating its 

 natural dimensions) measures 0.35 across its wings when they are spread. 

 The fore wings are brilliant steel blue or sometimes bluish green, with a purple 

 reflection, and without any spots. The mid-vein forms a deep groove, length- 

 wise, from the base parallel with the inner margin almost to its tip, and on 

 the middle of the wing towards the tip is another similar groove. The tips of 

 these wings are commonly bent inwards, giving them when closed, the appear- 

 ance of a little pod enveloping the abdomen. Their fringe is black interspersed 

 with scales of brilliant blue. On their under sides they are dusky with a 

 grayish silvery lustre and a pale purple reflection. The hind wings are pale 

 smoky brown and translucent, with pale blue and purple reflections, and their 

 fringe is pale brown. The head on the crown and between the antennas has a 

 dense tuft of erect bright orange yellow hairs. The feelers are straight, thread- 

 like, shorter than the head, inclined obliquely downwards and forwards, of a 

 gray color. The antennas are black-brown, very thick and robust, thread-like, 

 their tips curved and often spirally coiled. In the males they show a short 

 spine-like tooth on each side of the apex of each joint, giving them a doubly 

 serrated appearance. The thorax is brilliant steel blue. The abdomen is 

 quite short and conical in the males, cylindrical and with a thin tuft of hairs 

 at its tip in the female. In common with the under side and the legs, it 

 is dark brown with a strong satin-like lustre, the feet being whitish. 



This moth pertains to the Family Tineid^: of the Order Lepi- 

 doptera. Many of the members of this family reside in mova- 

 ble cases of. various kinds, which they construct from the sub- 

 stances on which they feed. The clothes' moths, furrier moths, 

 and others thus fabricate garments for their covering. Others 

 roll pieces of leaves into cylindrical or conical tubes, within 

 which they reside. And a few cut out circular pieces from 

 leaves and stitch them together as it were, like the insect we 

 have now described. The moths having this last habit pertain 

 to the genus Ornix of Treitschke, one of the Greek terms for a 

 bird, the wings of some of these moths resembling those of par- 

 ticular birds, which has led to their being named the goose- 

 winged, turkey-winged, &c. The species under consideration, 

 however, will be best distinguished by the name of the tree 

 which it infests, and I accordingly call it Ornix Jlcerifoliellus, or 

 the Maple leaf cutter. In the arrangement of the British ento- 

 mologists it would probably be referred to Mr. Curtis's genus 

 Erioccphala. 



