200 LLOYDS NATURAL HISTORY. 



PhalsenidcX of the United States " (1876 ; vide vol. iv. p. 205), 

 treats these as sub-families, and reduces the number to eight, 

 one, however, the GoniacidalincB, being new, i.e., founded on 

 American species unknown to Guenee. Mr. Meyrick, in his 

 " Handbook of British Lepidoptera " (vide vol. iv. pp. xxxix 

 184), and Sir George Hampson, in his "Fauna of BritisK 

 India: Moths," vol. iii. (cf. vol. iv. pp. xxxvi. 198), both 

 published in 1895, further reduce the families or sub-families 

 to five and six respectively; one of the latter, however, the 

 Or/hostixiincB, being unrepresented in Britain. On the other 

 hand, most of the German writers recognise only two families, 

 the Detidrometridcs and Phytometridcc, which Von Heinemann 

 characterises as follows : — 



DENDROMETRIDyE. 



Sub-costal nervure of the hind-wings rising from the base, 

 not touching the median, or only for a short distance, and 

 diverging from it long before the end of the discoidal cell. 



PHYTOMETRIDjE. 



Sub-costal nervure of the hind-wings rising from the median 

 nervure at, or just before, the end of the discoidal cell. 



The Phytometi'idce include the Sionidcs, Eubolidce and 

 Larentid(Z of Guenee, the remaining families being included 

 under the Detidrometridce. I regard Guen^e's arrangement as 

 the most suitable for the purposes of the present work, and 

 propose to follow it, with some slight modifications. 



FAMILY URAPTERYD^. 

 This family includes a number of species, with triangular 

 and rather pointed fore-wings, and angulated or sub-caudate 

 hind-wings. They are generally uniform in colour, and marked 

 with transverse or oblique lines. The body is rather woolly, 

 and the abdomen is tufted in the male. The only European 



