174 Mr. A. S. Packard on Aglia tau. 



inipcriaJis ; like that and other Ccratocanii)idn? and the 

 Ilcniilcucida} having five subcostal branches, while in the 

 Satnrniid^ there are only four, the first one wanting. 



Thus the moth belongs to the Ceratocampidre, while the 

 larva alter the last moult loses all its spines and becomes very 

 much like a Saturnian, perhaps of the type of Telea, and 

 especially resembling a smooth form like the larva of Attncus 

 befes, Walker, figured by Burmcister in his * Atlas of the 

 Lepidoptera of the Argentine Kcpublic,' though it is without 

 tubercles or spines. I therefore suggest that Aglia tau 

 should be regarded as the type of a distinct subfamily of 

 Ceratocampida^, and thus the latter group may be divided 

 into the two subfamilies, Ccratocampinas and Agllinas. 



At present, both from their larval and their imaginal 

 characters and from their spinning a cocoon, I am disposed 

 to consider the Hemileucidffi as a family closely allied to the 

 Ceratocampidffi. 



On examining the European genus Endromis we are 

 disposed to think that the family Endromidee is a natural one. 

 It would, however, be a violation of the principle of classifi- 

 cation to include Aglia with it. The two genera, both as 

 regards their larval and their adult characters, are quite 

 distinct. I find that Endromis versicolor has the head, palpi, 

 and antenna, and the hairy abdomen very closely like those 

 of Hemileuca maia; but the median vein of both wings 

 divides into four branches, and the subcostal vein of the fore 

 wings divides into five branches, as in H. maia and the other 

 Hemileucidffi. Judging by the coloured figure of the larva in 

 European works the larva of Endromis is smooth, with a 

 small retractile head, oblique bars, and a conical caudal horn. 

 The group Endromida is a branch of the Bombycian tree 

 parallel to but distinct from the Ilcmileucidai, and stands 

 above the latter, connecting this group and the Cerato- 

 campidse and Saturniidaj with the higher families of the 

 Bombyces in which there are four branches of the median 

 vein, all the families mentioned agreeing with the Notodon- 

 tidaj in having but three. 



In its general shape, the small retractile head, the mode of 

 coloration, and the caudal horn the larva of Endromis appears 

 to be remarkably near the Sphinges. Buckley describes the 

 cocoon as " composed of an open-worked reticulation of coarse 

 black or black-brown silk threads, with round or broad oval 

 interstices ; the fabric is extremely strong, tough, and elastic, 

 covered externally with moss and birch-leaves ; fringe adhe- 

 rent " (iii. Go). 



It is interesting that in the transformations of Rhescynthis 



I 



