714 CLASS IV. INSECTA. 



and are devoid of spines. Castnia makes a cocoon of scraps of plants. 

 Megathymus is North American. 



Fam. 8. Neoeastniidae. Resemble the preceding family but for the 

 absence of a proboscis. Tascina and Neocastnia, from the Oriental region, 

 compose the family. 



Fam. 9. Saturniidae. No frenulum or proboscis, first maxillae aborted. 

 Antennae bipectinate in male. This large and cosmopolitan family re- 

 sembles the Bombycidae, but has only one anal nervure in the hind-wing and 

 only three radial nervures in the fore-wing. Both pairs of wings have trans- 

 parent areas. Some species, e.g. Coscinocera and Attacus, are enormous,, 

 and the hind- wings are prolonged into extensive tails in Arceina, Copio- 

 pteryx and others. The larvae have ten pro-legs and bear many tubercles 

 with spines. The cocoons vary from a light network to a dense silky 

 covering, which in some cases has a commercial value as Tussore silk. 

 There are some seventy genera, of which but one species Saturnia pavonia, 

 the Emperor Moth, is British. 



Fam. 10. Brahmaeidae. Distinguished from the preceding by the 

 presence of a proboscis. Large dull moths, whose larvae form no cocoons. 

 There is but one genus Brahmaea which extends from Japan to Northern 

 Africa. 



Fam. 11. Ceratocampidae. Large insects, with in the male bipectinate, 

 in the female filamentous, antennae. First maxillae short. The larvae 

 are both hairy and spiny. No cocoon. The imago is mottled with red 

 and yellow markings. Found chiefly in the Southern United States. 

 Citheronia is the best known genus. 



Fam. 12. Bombycidae.* Small, dull moths, as in the Saturniidae, with 

 no proboscis and no frenulum, but with two or three anal nervures on 

 the hind-wing. The first maxillae and the labial palps are reduced. 

 Antennae bipectinate in both sexes. This widely distributed family com- 

 prises the true silk-worm moths, which are amongst the few insects 

 domesticated by man. The larvae have ten pro-legs and are not hairy. 

 The true silkworm, whose cocoon yields the silk, is Bombyx mori. 



Fam. 13. Eupterotidae. Large moths agreeing with the Bombycidae in 

 the condition of the antennae and of the first maxillae, but with a frenulum. 

 Four radial nervures on the fore-wing and two anal on the hind-wing. The 

 larvae are hairy, and if handled their hairs are apt to break off and prove 

 extremely irritating. They form great webs or nests in which some species, 

 e.g. Anaphe, spins its cocoons. The caterpillars of the South American 

 Palustra are aquatic, and some species pupate under water. There are no 

 British species, but the Processionary moth, Cnethocampa processioned 

 and C. pinivora, whose larvae march in a wedge-shaped army led by a 

 single leader, is common on the Continent. 



Fam. 14. Perophoridae. A small family including the members of the 

 American genera Perophora, Mamillo and Lacosoma, with a score of 

 species. The larvae make little cases of leaves or excrement in which 

 they live apart. 



Fam. 15. Sphingidae. Stout largish moths with usually a very long 

 proboscis. Frenulum present. Antennae spindle-shaped and often 

 ending in a hook. Front wings usually pointed at tip and long, hind- 

 wings small. The Hawk-moths form a large and cosmopolitan family, 



* Most entomologists give a wider interpretation to this family ; here 

 it is restricted to the silk- worm moths. 



