GEOMETRIDS. 49 
GEOMETRIDAE. 
Loopers or Spanners. 
The insects belonging to this group are easily distinguished by 
their slim bodies and broad thin wings, which, when the insects are 
at rest, are spread out flat, scarcely overlapping at the edges. The 
coloring is usually soft and delicate in tone, being often brown, gray- 
green or buff, crossed by darker wavy lines. The antenn are often 
feathery (pectinated) and the legs usually slim and long. 
The larvee, from which the group derives the name of Geomet- 
ride, or “earth measures,” are readily distinguished from the larvee 
of all other moths by their peculiar mode of progression, which 
is by bending the body into loops, thus giving the appearance of 
measuring the ground over which they travel. 
Larve of geometrid moths. 
From four to six of the abdominal legs possessed by the larvee of 
most lepidoptera are wanting in this group, in consequence of which 
the larve of geometrids may be recognized at a glance. Many of 
these larve spin silken threads wherever they go and are ready to 
quit their hold and drop from the leaves on which they may be feed- 
ing whenever danger threatens, mounting their threads and resuming 
operations again when it is past. Some of the caterpillars spin slight 
cocoons beneath leaves at the trunks of trees, while others burrow 
into the ground and there undergo their transformations. 
The insects of this group are numerous both in species and indi- 
viduals, and specimens may be taken from the first warm days in 
spring till late into the fall. 
