32 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY. 



THE MOTHS. LEPIDPOTERA HETEROCERA. 



Flight nocturnal or crepuscular, more rarely diurnal. 

 Antennae of very various shapes, but mc~t frequently filiform, 

 serrated, or (especially in the males) more or less pectinated 

 or plumose ; rarely thickened at or beyond the middle, in 

 which case they are sometimes hooked ; still more rarely 

 thickened into a club at the extremity. Labial and maxillary 

 palpi variously developed. A frenulum (or very rarely a 

 jugum) generally present. Wings occasionally more or less 

 aborted, especially in the females. 



The first two families are of rather doubtful position, some 

 authors regarding them as Hesperiidce, and others as more 

 nearly allied to the Castniidce. 



For further information respecting Moths in general, I refer 

 my readers to the introduction. 



FAMILY I. MEGATHYMID^E (GIANT SKIPPERS). 



Egg< Sub-conical, flattened at the top, and slightly de- 

 pressed in the middle ; not unlike an inverted pudding-basin 

 in shape. 



I, arv a. With sixteen legs, white, sparsely clothed with short 

 scattered hair ; head small. Feeds in the stems and roots of 

 the Agave and Yucca when adult. When young the head is 

 proportionately larger, the hair longer, and the larva feeds in 

 the open. 



p upa . Cylindrical, the several coverings well marked. 

 Abdomen with a row of very small spines on the back. The 

 pupa is found in the long galleries formed by the larva. 



Imago. Of moderate size (expanding from two to three 



