LEPIDOPTERA. — ARCTIIDZ. 385 

the posterior pair not extending beyond the costa of the anterior : 
they are connected together by a spring and socket; the antenne of 
the males are strongly bipectinated or serrated ; the spiral tongue is 
either obsolete, or of very small size; and the labial palpi are gene- 
rally short, and obtuse at the tip, with the last joint very small. The 
caterpillars vary very considerably, being in some species naked, but 
variously tubercled ; in others, thickly hairy ; and in some, furnished 
with long fascicles of hairs. They feed entirely upon the external 
parts of plants, and enclose themselves in cocoons when about to 
undergo their transformations. 
The family comprises many very distinct types of form, but all 
appear to have a connection inter se ; whence I find it impossible to 
draw a line between those which form Stephens’s two families, Noto- 
dontidee and Arctiide. The structure of the mouth will not assist 
in the inquiry, because Pygzera, Cerura, &c., amongst the Notodon- 
tide, have the maxille, and even the maxillary palpi (as discovered 
by Curtis), developed as strongly as in Spilosoma and Arctia ; whilst 
there is as great a variation in the transformations of the genera of 
either group, as there is between the respective species of the two 
groups; hence I have followed Latreille in keeping them under one 
family. 
Of these insects, Notodonta and its allied species are distinguished 
by the fore wings being toothed, or having elevated portions along the 
inner margin. 
There is considerable diversity in the appearance of the larvee of 
these prominents, as they have been termed, but the majority are 
furnished with several tubercles on the back, and the anal feet are 
spurious in some species (fig. 106. 2. larva of Lophopteryx camelina; 
VOL. II. GAC 
