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was looped, from which circumstance they had been called “ loopers,” 
and from their appearing to measure the space they traversed, they 
had been denominated Geometre or “earth measures.” Many of 
these caterpillars resembled in colour the leaves or stems of the plants 
on which they fed, and when at rest clung by the anal claspers, and 
stood out at an angle from the twig, in which position they so much 
resembled a stick or twig, that the name “ stick” caterniilars had been 
given to them. It was among this family that the power was possessed 
of linking the two wings together, when the insects flew. Another 
peculiarity belonging to some was that they rested with their wings 
folded back to back like the butterflies. 
Among the geometers were several moths, the females of which 
either had small and useless wings, as far as they were considered in- 
struments of locomotion, or so aborted as to appear altogether wanting. 
Thus in Ayberuia rupicapraria (the early moth), which appeared 
in January, the wings of the male were ample, the wings of the female 
were very short, and cut off obliquely at the hind margin, while the 
body was short and stout. In Aydernia leucophearia (spring usher), 
the wings of the male were long and rather narrow, while those of 
the female were scarcely perceptible. In the (Scarce Umber), 4. 
aurantiaria, which appeared in October, the wings of the male were 
very large, while those of the female are mere stumps; the body was 
larger than in either of the others. In another species (the dotted 
border) H. progemmaria, which appeared in February, while the wings 
of the male were large, those of the female were too small for the 
purpose of flight, but more ample than any other of this degraded, 
z.é., imperfectly developed group. Another Hydbernia, H. defoliaria, 
(Mottled Umber), which appeared in October, had, as regarded the 
male, large wings, but the nearly wingless female looked, when on the 
trunks of trees, like a spider, and the deception was the greater, 
owing to the length of her legs and the markings on the body. In 
Anisopteryx Asscularia (Marsh Moth) wings were quite wanting to the 
female, while those of the male were ample. In that destructive pest 
to plantations and orchards, Chimatobia brumata (the Winter Moth), 
thousands of which might sometimes be met with at this time of the 
year, the wings of the female were too short for flight. In places 
where they abounded, the females might be seen crawling like spiders 
over the tree trunks, while the males flitted easily about. 
Another group of the geometers noted for their robustness and the 
strong character of their wings, contained three species in which the 
females were apterous. These were (the Brindled Beauty) Phigala 
Pilosaria, (the Belted Beauty) Myssia Zonaria, and (the small Brindled 
ee 
