122 MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES. 
descend a few inches into the ground in the autumn, where they 
remain ina chrysalis state till the following July. Our best-known 
Datana’ ministra. 
species is Datana ministra, a tan-colored moth with buff lower wings 
and having a patch of reddish-brown on the thorax and several lines 
of the same color crossing the fore wings. 
A genus of moths of medium size, interesting from their gay 
colors and the habits and shapes of the larvie, is Limacodes. These 
larvie are slug-like creatures, and would hardly be taken for cater- 
pillars at all by the novice. The body is short and thick, high in 
the middle and flat beneath. The head is concealed beneath the for- 
ward part of the body, and both the true legs and prolegs are 
Limacodes seapha. 
searcely discernible. ‘The animal adhering closely to the leaf 
or twig upon which it rests has much of the gliding motion of the 
slugs. Some of these larvee are naked, while others are adorned 
with branching spines or fleshy filaments. Some of the caterpillars 
