720 CLASS IV. INSECTA. 



are protected by a cocoon. The images, which include both day- and night - 

 moths, are plain and often marked by three lines and three spots. The 

 family is cosmopolitan and there are a hundred and fifty British species. 

 Amongst ^the British genera are, Pyralis, Cledeobia, Aglossa, Scoparia, 

 Nomophila, Odontia, Pyrausta, Rhodaria, Herbula, Ennychia, Crambus, 

 Platytes, Hydrocampa and many others. 



Fam. 48. Pterophoridae. The fore-wing has two, and the hind-wing 

 three deep clefts, which separate the wings into plumes, unknown in other 

 moths, with the exception of the succeeding family. This is a moderate 

 sized family with some thirty British representatives. The larvae are 

 slow and heavy, very hairy ; they live exposed on leaves. The pupae 

 have three or four free segments and are covered with hairs or protected 

 by a slight cocoon. The hind-wings are more cleft than the others. 

 Agdistis, represented in this country, has its wings entire. The family is 

 widely distributed, and Cnaemidophorus, Platyptilia, Amblyptilia, Oxyptilus, 

 Pterophorus are amongst the British genera. 



Fam. 49. Alucitidae.* Each wing cleft almost to the base into six 

 plumes. Alucita, the only genus, is represented in Britain by A. poly- 

 dactyla, which feeds on honey-suckle. 



Fam. 50. Tortricidae. The second anal nervure of hind-wing forked 

 at the base, and a sub-costal is always present. The first maxillae have 

 no palps and the labial palps are blunt. The Tortricidae are a very ex- 

 tensive family of small moths whose hind-wings have no pattern. The 

 wings are sometimes slightly fringed, and the front pair may bear metallic 

 spots. The larvae have ten pro-legs ; they live within the tissue of the 

 plants on which they feed, or in rolled-up leaves : in either case they cause 

 great injury to trees. The family is widely distributed and represented in 

 this country by the genera Tortrix, Dichelia, Amphisa, Oenectra, Lep- 

 togramma, Peronea, Rhacodia, Teras and others. 



Fam. 51. Tineidae. The nervures are arranged as in the preceding 

 family, excepting that the second anal of the hind-wing is not forked. 

 The wings are usually narrow and pointed, and the hind- wing may be 

 fringed. Maxillary palps of ten present, and labial palps pointed. This is an 

 immense family of small moths with some seven hundred British species. 

 The larvae live exposed on plants, or mine in a great variety of substances 

 such as cloth, the horns of live antelopes, camels' dung, fur, hair and horses' 

 hoofs, potatoes, old wood, corks, etc., etc. In structure these caterpillars 

 vary greatly ; they may be altogether devoid of legs ; many of them have 

 protective cases. The pupae also show much diversity. One or two 

 species of Tinea are viviparous ; and Solenobia, which is wingless in the 

 female, is at times parthenogenetic. The group is cosmopolitan and 

 represented in Britain by Diplodoma, Scardia, Blabophanes, Tinea, 

 Tineola, Lampronia, Nemophora and others. The so-called " clothes 

 moths" belong to this family. Pronuba synthetica (Fig. 4 59) lays her eggs 

 on the Yucca and in so doing fertilizes the flowers. 



Fam. 52. Erioeephalidae. The mandibles are fairly well developed 

 in the imago. The maxillae have each two lobes, not elongated, and a 

 flexible, five-segmented palp ; they form no proboscis. The wings have 

 no frenulum or shoulder, but a small jugum ; the front and hind pair 

 probably act independently. A small family which by the foregoing 

 characters and by the large number of cross nervures on the wings shows 



* Orneodidae of some writer?. 



