THE HOP-VINE HEPIOLUS. 409 



campians, are provided with notched transverse ridges on the 

 rings, by means of which they push themselves out of their 

 holes when ready to be transformed. The moths differ a 

 good deal from each other, although the appearance and 

 habits of the caterpillars are so much alike. The antennae 

 in some are thread-like, or made up of nearly cylindrical 

 joints put together like a string of beads ; in others they are 

 more tapering, and doubly pectinated or toothed on the 

 under side, at least in the males ; and in Zeuzera, a kind of 

 moth not hitherto found in this country, the antennae resem- 

 ble those of the Ceratocampians, being half-feathered in the 

 males, and not feathered in the females. The wings are 



7 O 



rather long and narrow, and are strengthened by very nu- 

 merous veins. The female is provided with a kind of tube 

 at the end of the body, that can be drawn in and out, by 

 means of which she thrusts her eggs into the chinks of the 

 bark or into the earth at the roots of plants. 



Of the root-eaters there is one kind which is very injurious 

 to the hop-vine in Europe. It is called Hepiolus humuli, 

 the hop- vine Hepiolus. The caterpillar is yellowish white ; 

 the head, a spot on the top of the first and second rings, and 

 the six fore legs are shining brown, and it is nearly naked, 

 or has only a few short hairs scattered over its body. It 

 lives in the roots of the hop, and, when about to transform, 

 buries itself in the ground, and makes a long, cylindrical 

 cocoon or case, composed of grains of earth held together 

 by a loose silken web. The chrysalis has transverse rows 

 of little teeth on the backs of the abdominal rings, and by 

 means of them it finally works its way out of the cocoon and 

 rises to the surface of the earth ; this being done, the includ- 

 ed moth bursts its chrysalis shell, and comes forth into the 

 open air. In moths of this kind (genus Hepiolus) the an- 

 tennae are very short, slender, almost thread-like, and not 

 feathered or pectinated ; the tongue is wanting or invisible ; 

 and the feelers are excessively small, and concealed in a tuft 

 of hairs. 



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