ROYAL MOTHS. 131 
The moths, which fly here in Minnesota late in Septem- 
ber and the first part of October, differ in habits from those 
of most other genuine moths by flying in mid-day. They are 
modest-looking but truly elegant insects. Their wings are 
so lightly covered with scales that they are semi-transpar- 
ent, and look like delicate black crape. The bands across 
them are creamy-white, and broadest on the hind-wings. 
These bands vary greatly in width, and some are almost 
obsolete, while in othercases they are very broad. The male 
differs from the female in having broader black antennz and 
a smaller abdomen, tipped with a large tuft of brick-red 
hair. Its color is cream-white, and the black hairs of the 
body are more or less sprinkled with hairs of the same pale 
color. The female has the lower side of the antennz, the 
hair on the thighs, and two small tufts behind the thorax of 
a brick-red color. She deposits her eggs (See Fig. 131) in 
naked belts of from 100 to 200 eggs; these are only fastened 
together by a little glue and are not deposited in perfect order. 
Each egg is obovate, about 0.05 inch long, compressed at 
the sides and apex, and of a dirty yellowish color. 
There are some very curious points in the life history of 
this moth. The caterpillars, all born at the same time, from 
eggs deposited by one mother, feed side by side upon the 
same plant until mature when all enter the ground at about 
the same time and transform to pupe. Yet out of 200 
pupz thus formed at the same time early in July only 117 
moths issued in the same year, while the rest remained in the 
ground fully a year longer when most of them issued. 
FAMILY CERATOCAMPIDAE OR ROYAL MOTHS. 
This is a small family of fairly large or very large moths, 
the caterpillars of which are usually furnished with horns, 
spines or similar processes. The moths are sometimes con- 
trastingly colored, and distinguished by having the antennz 
in the male feathered for only a portion of the distance. 
