TR ACHE ATA JS| 



the female of ■which has rudimentary wings. Fidonia piniaria 

 attacks Conifers. 



11. NOCTUINA. 



The group includes the forms popularly known as owlets ; 

 it is the largest group of the Lepidoptera, containing over 2500 

 species. Most nocturnal moths of fair size belong to it. The 

 antennae are long, sometimes pectinate in the male. The fore- 

 wings are small, and the larger posterior wings are folded under 

 them when at rest. They are usually of a dull colour, and 

 there is almost always a round spot and a kidney-shaped patch 

 in the middle of the anterior wing. There is little variation 

 between the sexes, or between the different species in the moth, 

 but the caterpillars differ considerably. The latter are striped 

 and barred, naked, or more rarely hairy ; they usually have five 

 pairs of pro-legs, but some have four. The pupae are usually 

 underground, enclosed in earthen cocoons. The eggs are laid 

 singly, and the larvae are not gregarious. 



The Noctuina include numerous families, amongst whom 

 the Plusiidae, the Agrotidae, and the Ophiusidae may be 

 mentioned. 



III. BOMBYCINA. 



The members of this group are _ often termed spinners. 

 They are large unwieldy moths, often very beautiful and 

 strange in form. Their body is usually very hairy (Fig. 198), 

 the head is small and sunken, and the mouth parts are reduced 

 and sometimes obsolete. The antennae are setiform, in the 

 male pectinate; the last-named sex are as a rule more 

 brilliantly coloured and more active than the sluggish female. 

 The wings of the female Orgyia are reduced, and are absent 

 altogether in Psyche. The eggs are laid in groups, and are 

 covered with a woolly substance ; the caterpillars have sixteen 

 legs, and are usually hairy. The cocoons are made above 

 ground, the naked larvae forming theirs of silk, the more hairy 

 kinds mixing their hairs with a slighter amount of silk. The 

 sexes are usually very distinct, and the females attract the 

 males from great • distances. Parthenogenesis occurs in the 

 family Psychidae. 



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