240 



CHAPTER IV. 



PSEUDO-BOMBYCES, DREPANUL^, AND NOCTU^E. 



THE two first of these groups are gathered by Mr. 

 Newman into one group, which are termed Cuspidates, 

 because the tail of the larva mostly ends in a cusp or 

 point. Some of the strangest caterpillars in the world 

 belong to this group, and we have in sober England a 

 number of Cuspidate larvae which may rival the most 

 wonderful productions of the tropics for beauty of 

 colour and strangeness of form, the latter being in 

 many cases actually grotesque. 



The Pseudo-Bombyces are so called because the 

 Moths look at first sight as if they belonged to the 

 true Bombyces. The structure and habits of the 

 caterpillar, however, show that these Moths are very 

 rightly placed in a separate group. 



The first family is the Dicranuridae, so 'called on 

 account of the structure of the larva. The name is 

 formed from two Greek words, signifying Double- 

 tailed, and is given to these insects because the tail of . 

 the larva is very deeply cleft, so as, in fact, to resemble 

 two distinct tails. 



The first of these insects is the common PUSS 

 MOTH (Dicranura vinula). 



