418 LEPIDOPTERA. 



doubly feathered, but the fringe is narrower throughout than 

 in the other sex. The body and the wings almost exactly 

 resemble those of the foreign silk-worm moth in shape ; but 

 the fore wings are rather more pointed and hooked at the tip. 

 There are no bristles and hooks to hold together the wings, 

 which, when at rest, cover the sides like a sloping roof, and 

 the front edge of the hind wings does not project beyond that 

 of the fore wings. These moths are of a reddish-gray color, 

 finely sprinkled all over with minute black dots ; the pos- 

 terior margin of the hind wings above, and the under side 

 of the fore wings, especially behind the tip, are tinged with 

 tawny red ; there is a small black dot near the middle of 

 the fore wings ; and both the fore and hind wings are crossed 

 by a narrow blackish band, beginning with an angle on the 

 front edge of the former, and passing obliquely backwards 

 to the inner edge of the hind wings. They expand from 

 one inch and tliree eighths to two inches, or a little more. 



The last family of the Bombyces remaining to be noticed 

 may be called Notodontians (NOTODONTAD^E). Many of the 

 caterpillars belonging to it have hunched backs, or tooth-like 

 prominences on the back ; and hence the origin of the name 

 of this family, which comes from a word signifying toothed 

 back. Most of these caterpillars are entirely naked ; some 

 of them are downy or slightly hairy, but the hairs generally 

 grow immediately from the skin, and not in spreading clus- 

 ters from little warts on the rings. They have sixteen legs ; 

 some raise the last pair when at rest, and some keep these 

 always elevated and do not use them in creeping, in which 

 case these terminal legs are lengthened, and form a forked 

 appendage or tail to the hinder part of the body. Hence 

 such caterpillars are often described as having only fourteen 

 legs, although the wanting members really exist in a modified 

 form. Moreover, the caterpillars of some of the Notodon- 

 tians seem to be without legs, and even on close examination 

 only the soles of the feet can be perceived. The Notodon- 

 tians are found chiefly on trees and shrubs, the leaves of 



