106 



HEPIALIDjE. 



The Hepialidje have a peculiar aspect, combined 

 with minute peculiarities of structure, which ren- 

 ders the family one of the most distinct of all the 

 Heterocerous Lepidoptera. They form the first 

 group of Latreille's section Nocturna, which differs 

 from that named Crepuscularia by having the an- 

 tennae setaceous, or tapering gradually to the tip. 

 " They have the antennee very short and filiform, 

 never feathered to the tip ; the spiral tongue is 

 either obsolete or very short; the palpi are also 

 generally obsolete; the abdomen is elongated, as 

 are also the wings, which are deflexed in repose, the 

 extremity of the former being attenuated into an 

 ovipositor of considerable length, so as to be capable 

 of being withdrawn, or introduced into the crevices 

 of the bark of trees, &c. : the thorax is never crested ; 

 the nerves of the wing are far more complicated 

 than in any of the preceding groups. The caterpil- 

 lars are fleshy naked grubs, with a few straggling 

 hairs ; they are 16-footed (having 6 pectoral, 8 ven- 

 tral, and 2 anal feet). They feed upon the wood of 

 standing trees, or the roots of vegetables. When 

 full grown, they construct a cocoon of the morsels 

 of wood or vegetables upon which they have been 

 feeding." * 



* Introduction to the Modern Classification of Insects, by 

 J. O. Westwood, vol. ii. p. 376. 



