THE MOTHS— LEPIDOPTERA HETEROCERA. 



(Concluded.) 



NOCTU^. 



This name is applied to a very extensive and homogeneous 

 group of the larger Moths. The most comprehensive classifi- 

 cation of the NoctiicB was proposed by Guenee in 1852, in his 

 "Species G^ndraledesLdpidopt^res: Noctuellites"; but in 1857 

 another system was published by Lederer in his " Noctuinen 

 Europa's," in which he arranged the genera almost without 

 troubling himself to sort them into families. Later authors have 

 followed an intermediate course, and instead of dividing the 

 NoducB into groups, sub-groups, and a large number of families, 

 have divided them into a limited number of families only. 

 However, many small groups appear to be natural, and these 

 we propose to treat as Sub-families in the present work. The 

 following characters may be taken as of general application. 



Laxva. — Cylindrical, naked or pubescent, rarely tufted or 

 hairy ; with sixteen legs, or with the first and second pairs of 

 pro-legs more or less rudimentary. 



Pupa. — Subterranean ; or rarely enclosed in a cocoon. 



Imago. — With moderately stout bodies (rarely slender). 

 Antennae filiform, or, rarely, pectinated ; proboscis usually well 

 i6 P 



