LEPIDOPTERA OF NEW YORK AND NEIGHBORING STATES 67 



bases of the fore and hind wings. Abdomen long and clumsy, with- 

 out any modifications; in the female ending in complicated struc- 

 tures not yet fully understood. 



Eggs of flat type, rounded, usually scattered broadcast in the neigh- 

 borhood of the food. Larva (fig. 42) a borer; slender, cylindrical, 

 with a rather long head. Ocelli six, the four anterior not in a cres- 

 cent, but in an oblong group, the other two close to them. Maxillae 

 of a peculiar type, the palpus with three free segments. Mesothorax 

 and metathorax with seta3 ia in front of ib, as on abdomen, v higher 

 than iii and iv. Abdomen with lateral setae high, iv higher than 

 spiracle, and the three arranged in an oblique row ; iiia and x well- 

 developed setaa, but ix minute ; ninth segment of abdomen large, with 

 setag normally arranged. Prolegs normal, with multiserial hooks in a 

 complete ellipse, the upper hooks rudimentary and grading into the 

 skin granulations. The caterpillars normally bore in roots and root- 

 stocks, and those of Sthenopis are practically aquatic; they are very 

 active. 



Pupa slender, fitting the burrow ; mandibles rudimentary, but sharply 

 defined; all sutures of head preserved except the clypeo-labral, even 

 the gena being distinct ; antennae short, maxillae very short and widely 

 divergent, quadrangular, not covering the labium, the parts not dif- 

 ferentiated; abdomen with two series of spines on each segment, the 

 end of the abdomen roughly spined, without a cremaster; setae iv not 

 as high as in the larva. Abdominal segments 2 to 7 of male and 

 2 to 6 of female free. Pupa leaving burrow on emergence. 



The moths are mostly dusk-fliers, although H. hyperboreus flies in the 

 daytime. The family is world-wide and largely developed in Aus- 

 tralasia, with nearly 200 species. 



Key to the genera 



Fore wing with marked apex and straight or concave upper half of outer 



margin 1 . Sthenopis. 



Fore wing with bluntly rounded apex 2. Hepialus. 



1. STHENOPIS Packard 

 (Hepialus, in part) 



The larvae, so far as known, bore in the roots of trees and shrubs growing parti- 

 ally submerged, and usually work below the water level. The moths have the habit 

 of swarming like midges, the males having a wavy, zigzag flight, and the females 

 apparently entering the swarm of males one by one. They are very short-lived 

 and do not come to light or sugar. The larvae feea at least two seasons, pupating 

 in early summer. The pupa has a peculiar comb of short spines on the venter of 

 the seventh segment of the abdomen, which also shows weakly in Phassus. The 

 genus is doubtfully distinct from Phassus. 



