THE LIMACODES. 419 



which they eat. When about to be transformed, the most 

 of them enclose themselves in cocoons, which are often very 

 hard and thick, made either of silk, or of silk mixed with 

 fragments of wood and bark ; some make thin, semi-trans- 

 parent, and filmy cocoons under a covering of leaves ; some 

 merely cover themselves with grains of earth, held together 

 by silken threads ; and a very few go into the ground to 

 transform, without making cocoons. The chrysalids taper 

 behind, and are not provided with transverse notched ridges 

 on the back. The moths close their wings over the sides 

 of the body like a sloping roof, when at rest ; but the front 

 edges of the hind wings never extend beyond those of the 

 fore wings, and the bristles and hooks for holding the wings 

 together are never wanting. The antennae are rather long ; 

 those of the males are generally doubly feathered on the 

 under side ; but the feathery fringe is often very narrow 

 towards the tips, and in the females is always narrower 

 than in the other sex ; in a few of both sexes the antennae 

 are not feathered at all. The feelers and tongue, though 

 short, are generally visible. The body is rather long, and 

 not very thick. In what follows, a few only of the most 

 remarkable species will be described. 



Among the many odd-shaped caterpillars belonging to 

 this family, not the least remarkable are those which are 

 called Limacodes, that is, slug-like, on account of their 

 seeming want of feet, their very slow gliding motions, and 

 the slug-like form of some of them. In these caterpillars 

 the body is very short and thick, and approaches more or 

 less to an oval form ; it is naked, or, in some kinds, covered 

 only with short down ; the head is small, and can be drawn 

 in and concealed under the first ring ; the six fore legs are 

 also small and retractile ; and the other legs consist only 

 of little fleshy elevations, without claws or hooks. The 

 under side of the body is smeared with a sticky fluid, which 

 seems designed to render their footing more secure, and 

 leaves a slimy track wherever the insects go. Their co- 

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