HEPIALID^. 151 



Family 2. HEPIALID^. 



Antennfe extremely short, minutely pectinated ; fore and 

 hind wings long and narrow, set widely apart at the base ; 

 abdomen long, of even thickness, blunt, thinly covered with 

 scales. 



Larvae smooth and naked ; second segment protected by 

 a horny plate ; feeding under ground on roots of plants. 



PUP^ elongated, with deeply divided abdominal segments 

 and furnished with rows of stiff spines. 



The character of extreme shortness of the antennae of the 

 moth is modified in a few exotic species, they being pro- 

 vided with pectinated antennte of more conspicuous length, 

 though still short. This family is but distantly connected 

 with the preceding, and apparently not more closely with any 

 other of our native Bomhi/cina. Dr. Chapman considers it, 

 from the characters of the pupa3, to be allied to the Addidcc 

 amonsT the Tineina. 



Genus 1. HEPIALUS. 



This being the only genus, the characters already given 

 apply, but a table of the species may be useful. 



A. Fore wings with oblique parallel bands. 



B. The bands silvery, ff. hectus, male. 

 BB. The bands pale purplish-brown. IT. hectus, female. 

 AA. Fore wings with oblique divergent pale stripes. 



C. Pale stripes straight, meeting on the dorsal 



margin. ^^- si/lvinus. 



CO. Pale stripes sinuous, meeting near the dorsal 



margin, cilia plain. H. hqyuliims. 



ceo. Pale stripes irregular, meeting in a curve, cilia 



spotted. H- oelleda. 



