54 INTRODUCTION. 



blance to the fabled sphinx of antiquity, which led 

 Linnaeus to distinguish them by that name. They 

 in general live singly, and feed on the leaves of 

 plants, principally of the herbaceous kind. When 

 about to be transformed, they undergo a sudden 

 and total change of colour, their usual bright hues 

 being converted into dull grey or brown. Prepara- 

 tory to the same important operation, they merely 

 scoop out an oval chamber in the earth, without en- 

 closing themselves in a silken cocoon, being satisfied 

 with the protection afforded by the slightly agglu- 

 tinated particles of the circumjacent soil. The 

 chrysalis is generally without angular projections, 

 and in some instances the sheath containing the 

 proboscis is prominent and detached, and curved, 

 downwards over the breast. 



The larvae of the Zygenidae and ^Egeridae, how- 

 ever, which likewise pertain to the crepuscular sec- 

 tion, recede considerably from the more characteristic 

 forms and habits just described. They are destitute 

 of a caudal horn, and those of the latter family 

 gnaw the woody portions of trees and shrubs, form- 

 ing a rude cocoon of the triturated fragments and 

 undergoing their transformations in the interior; 

 while those of the former live exposed on the foliage 

 of plants, and spin a long oval or spindle-shaped 

 cocoon, of a coreaceous texture, which they attach 

 to the stem or branches. 



The last, and by far the most extensive section 

 of the lepidopterous order, is that containing the 



