THE BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS 



193 



and with quite transparent wings, while the females are much 

 larger, having fore-wings of a blackish brown and entirely covered 

 with scales, and a black abdomen with a broad orange band about 

 the middle. Other injurious species of clearwings, smaller and 

 more wasplike than the peach-borer, are the currant-borer (Sesia 

 tipuliformis], the raspberry root-borer (Bembecia marginata], and 

 the well-known squash-vine borer (Melittia ceto] whose whitish 

 larvae bore through the vines of squash and other cucurbits, often 

 ruining the crops. Not all clear-winged moths belong to this family, 



FIG. 301. The squash-borer (Melittia satyriniformis Hbn.). (Enlarged 



one third) 



a, male moth ; b, female with wings closed ; , eggs on squash stem ; d, larva ; 

 e, pupa ; f, cocoon 



for a few of the sphinx moths (which, however, are much larger) 

 and one or two other families have species with wings almost 

 wholly free from scales. 



The prominents (Notodontidae) are dull-colored, medium-sized 

 moths, with a wing expanse of from one and one fourth to two 

 inches, many of whose larvae bear strong humps or prominences 

 which may have given rise to the common name of the family. 

 The moths quite closely resemble the owlet moths, from which they 

 can be distinguished only by an examination of the wing venation. 

 The handmaid moths are of a reddish-brown color, with the fore- 

 wings crossed with several darker brown lines, whose larvae have 

 the peculiar habit of raising the head and tail and standing quite 



