FAMILY EPIPLEM1D/E 



" And I will purge thy mortal grossness so, 

 That thou shall like an airy spirit go. 

 Peaseblossom! Cobweb! Moth! and' Mustardseed!" 



SHAKESPEARE. Midsummer Nighfs Dream, III, i. 



This is a family of small moths in many respects closely allied 

 to the Geometridce, so far as the structure and general appearance 

 of the mature insects are concerned. The larvae are, however, 

 quite different. The family has been described as follows by 

 Hampson, "The Moths of India," Vol. Ill, p. 121: 



" Proboscis and frenulum present. Fore wing with vein \a 

 separate from \b; \c absent; 5 from or from above the middle of 

 the discocellulars; 7 widely separated from 8, and usually stalked 

 with 6. Hind wing with two internal veins; vein 5 from or from 

 above the middle of the discocellulars; 8 free from the base. 



Larvce with five pairs of prolegs and sparsely clothed with 

 hair." 



The family is much better represented in the tropics of the 

 New World than in our territory, and even better represented in 

 the tropics of the Old World than of the New. Only four genera 

 are known to occur within the United States, Philagraula, Cal- 

 li^ia, Calledapteryx, and Schidax. Of these we have selected one 

 for purposes of illustration. 



Genus CALLEDAPTERYX Grote 

 (i) Calledapteryx dryopterata Grote, Plate XLII, Fig. 17, $> . 



Syn. erosiata Packard. 



This little moth, which may easily be distinguished by its 

 deeply eroded or scalloped wings, is not uncommon in the Appa- 

 lachian subregion. It has the habit of alighting upon old rails 

 and the trunks of trees, and, before composing itself on its new 

 station, of waving its wings three or four times upward and 

 downward. This peculiar habit enables the collector to quickly 

 recognize it. 



356 



