436 



LEPIDOPTEEA. 



the inner hind angle. Of those that want this character on 

 the fore wings, the largest American species, known to me, 

 may be called Apatela Americana'^^ (Fig- 216), which has 

 been mistaken* for Apatela Aeeris, the maple-moth of Eu- 

 rope. Its body and fore wings are light gray ; on the latter 



there is a wavy, scalloped white line edged externally with 

 black near the outer hind margin, and the usual round and 

 kidney-shaped spots are also edged with black ; the hind 

 wings are dark gray in the male, blackish in the female, with 

 a faintly marked black curved band and central semicircular 

 spot ; all the wings are whitish and shining beneath, with a 

 black wavy and curved band and central semicircular spot on 

 each ; the fringes are white, scalloped, and spotted witli 

 black. It expands from two inches and a quarter to two 

 inches and a half, or more. This kind of moth flies only at 

 night, and makes its appearance between the middle and the 



end of July. The cat- 

 erpillar (Fig. 217) eats 

 the leaves of the va- 

 rious kinds of maple, 

 and sometimes also 

 those of the elm, lin- 

 den, and chestnut. It 

 is one of the largest 

 lands; and, early in October, when it arrives at maturity, 



[24 A. Americana is synonymous with Acronycta acericola Guen^e. — Mokris.] 

 * See Plialana Aeeris, Smith, in Abbot's "Insects of Georgin," p. 165, pi. 93. 



rig. 217. 



