302 LEPIDOPTERA. 



(X. crepera Harris) are distinctly triangular and yellow on the 

 outer half. The larva is nearly three inches long, is reddish 

 above and covered with sparse long hairs. It bores in various 

 directions through the red oak and locust, and spins a dense 

 cocoon. The pupa is much elongated, with the suture between 

 the segments well marked, and the head and thorax rather small. 

 Sthenopis is a gigantic moth, with more falcate wings than 

 in Hepialus. S. argenteomaculata Harris expands nearly 

 three inches, and is ashy gray, variegated with dusky clouds 

 and bands, with a small, triangular, silvery spot and round 

 dot near the base of the fore wings. Hepialus is smaller, with 

 a larger head and straighter wings. H. humuli Linn, is 

 injurious to the hop vine in Europe. Our most common spe- 

 cies, H. mustelinus Pack., is sable brown, with slight silvery 

 lines on the fore wings. It expands a little over an inch and 

 a quarter. 



NOCTTLELIT.E Latreille (Noctuidce). Owlet moths. There 

 is a great uniformity in the genera of this family, which are 

 characterized by their thick bodies, the thorax being often 

 crested, by the stout and well developed palpi, and the simple 

 and sometimes slightly pectinated antennae. The fore wings 

 are small and narrow, and the rather large hind wings are 

 when at rest folded under them, so that the moth looks much 

 smaller than when flying. They fly swiftly at night, and are 

 attracted by light. The fore wings have almost invariably a 

 dot and reniform spot in the middle of the wing, and the moths 

 are generally dark and dull colored. The larvae taper towards 

 each end, and are striped and barred in different ways. They 

 have sixteen feet, except those of the lower genera, such as 

 Catocala and other broad-winged genera, which have fourteen, 

 and look when they walk like the Geometers. They make 

 thin earthen cocoons, and the pupae generally live under 

 ground. In these and other more essential characters, this 

 family is intermediate between the Bombycidae and the Phalse- 

 nidne. There are about 2,500 species known. 



These moths can be taken at dusk flying about flowers, while 

 they enter open windows in the evening, and during the night 

 are attracted by the light within. When alighted on the table 



