Ceratocampiden 



most common in Colorado and Wyoming, in which the wings 

 are greatly suffused with black. To this form Walker's name 

 pica properly applies. 



FAMILY CERATOCAMPIDy^ 



" In Nature's infinite book of secrecy 

 A little I can read." SHAKESPEARE. 



This family contains moths of large or medium size, the 

 larvae of which do not produce cocoons, but undergo transforma- 

 tion in the ground. The larvae are generally more or less orna- 

 mented with spines and bristly protuberances. The moths have 

 the tongue developed, but nevertheless feebly. The tibial spurs 

 are present. The frenulum is lacking. The genera belonging to 

 this family are American, and only five of them occur within our 

 faunal limits. 



Genus ANISOTA Hubner . 



Of the five species, recognized as belonging to this genus and 

 occurring within our borders, we have selected three for repre- 

 sentation. Anisota senatoria, a common species found in the 

 Atlantic States, is distinguished from its very near ally, Anisota 

 virginiensis, not only by marked differences in the larval stage, 

 but by the fact that the females are almost exactly like the female 

 of Anisota stigma, profusely covered with black spots or freck- 

 lings on the wings, while the females of virginiensis, as shown 

 in the plate, are almost wholly destitute of such spots. The 

 males of these two species are almost alike, the only difference 

 being that the male insect in the case of -virginiensis is somewhat 

 darker than in the case of Anisota senatoria, and less ochreous. 



(i) Anisota stigma Fabricius, Plate XI, Fig. 9, 3 ; Fig. 

 10, $. (The Stigma Moth.) 



The caterpillar feeds upon various species of oak. It is orna- 

 mented with short spines upon the segments, arranged in rows, 

 those on the second segment from the head being long and 

 recurved. The color of the larvae at maturity is a dull reddish 

 brown, marked with small creamy-white and gray punctulations. 

 The insect occurs in the Appalachian faunal region, from Canada 

 to the Carolinas, and westward to Kansas and Missouri. 



94 



