Cossidae 



Syn. plena Walker ; fasciata Grote & Robinson; montana Henry Edwards ; 

 aurea Pagenstecher. 



The species is widely distributed throughout the entire United 

 States. It is very common in western Pennsylvania. 



Genus HEXERIS Grote 

 (i) Hexeris enhydris Grote, Plate XLVII, Fig. 35, $. 



Syn. reticulum Beutenmiiller. 



The moth occurs in the subregion of the Gulf. 



Genus MESKEA Grote 



(1) Meskea dyspteraria Grote, Plate XLVII, Fig. 36, $. 

 The moth is found in Florida and the region of the Antilles. 



FAMILY COSSID/E 



"Bright insect, ere thy filmy wing, 

 Expanding on the breath of spring, 



Quivered with brief enjoyment, 

 'T was thine for years immured to dwell 

 Within a lone and gloomy cell, 



To eat, thy sole employment." Acheta Domestica. 



The Cossidce, " Goat-moths," or "Carpenter- worms," as they 

 are familiarly called, have sorely puzzled systematists. Some 

 writers have been inclined to regard them as allied to the Tortri- 

 cidce. We assign them the position in the linear series which is 

 accorded them by Hampson and also by Dyar. They form a very 

 distinctly defined group, whatever their relationships may be. 

 They are succinctly described by Hampson in "The Moths of 

 India," Vol. I, p. 304, as follows: "Proboscis absent; palpi usu- 

 ally minute or absent; antennae bipectinated to tip or with distal 

 half simple in both sexes, or wholly simple in female. Tibiae with 

 spurs absent or minute. Fore wing with vein \b forked at base; 

 \c present; an areole formed by veins 7 and 10; veins 7 and 8 

 forking after the areole; the inner margins usually more or less 

 lobed. Hind wing with three internal veins; vein 8 free from 

 the base or connected with 7 by an erect bar at end of cell. Both 

 wings with forked veinlets in cell. The female may have as 

 many as nine bristles to the frenulum. 



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