226 



THE STUDY OF INSECTS. 



Family PYROMORPHID^E (Pyr-o-mor'phi-dae). 

 The Smoky-moths. 



There are but few insects in our country pertaining to 

 this family. These are small moths, that are 

 chiefly of a smoky black color; some are 

 marked with brighter colors. 



F M ^faharlul'. A tiny representative of the family which 



seems to be not uncommon in the East is Acoloitkus fal- 



sarius (Ac-o-loi'thus fal-sa'ri-us). This moth (Fig. 265) 



expands two thirds of an inch. It is black, with the pro- 



thorax of an orange color. The venation of its wings (Fig. 



266) is peculiar in that subcosta and radius of the hind wings 



coalesce for only a short 



distance beyond the mid- 



dle of the discal cell, and 



a stump of radius pro- 



jects towards the base 



of the wing, from the 



point of union of the two 



veins. The larva feeds 



in early summer on the 



leaves of grape and of 



the Virginia creeper. It 



is said that the pupa 



state lasts fourteen days 



vn, 



IX VIII 

 FIG. 266. Wings of 



and is passed within a parchment-like cocoon. The adult 

 frequents flowers in the daytime. 



The typical genus of the family is represented in the At- 



lantic and Western States by Pyromorpha dimidiata (Pyr-o- 



mor'pha di-mid-i-a'ta). The entire insect is smoky black, 



:cept the basal half of the fore wings in front of vein IX, 



basal half of the costa of the hind wings, which are 



3w. The wings are thinly scaled, and expand a little 



than one inch. Figure 267 represents the venation of 



the wings. 



