460 



LEPIDOPTEEA. 



net-work, through which the insects' may be seen. A very 



few of the span-worms fasten 



Fig. 226. 





Fig. 227. 



themselves to the stems of 

 plants, and are changed to 

 chrysalids, which hang sus- 

 pended, without the protection 

 of any outer covering. 



In their perfected state, 

 these insects are mostly slen- 

 der-bodied moths, with taper- 

 ing antennae, which are often 

 . feathered in the males. Their 

 feelers are short and slender ; the tongue is short and weak ; 

 the thorax is not crested ; the wings are large, thin, and 

 delicate, sometimes angular, and often marked with one or 

 two dark-colored oblique bands. They generally rest with 

 the wings slightly inclined, and almost horizontal ; some with 

 them extended, and others with the hind wings covered 

 by the upper pair. A very few carry their wings like the 

 Skippers. Some of the females are without wings, and are 

 distinguished also by the oval and robust form of their bodies. 

 These moths are most active in the night ; but some of them 

 may be seen flying in thickets during the day-time. They 

 are very short-lived, and die soon after their eggs are laid. 



Those kinds, whereof the females are wingless, or have 

 only very short, scale-like wings, and naked antennae, while 

 the males have large, entire wings, and feathered or downy 

 antennas, seem to form a distinct group, which may be 

 named Hybernians (Htberniad^:), from the principal genus 

 included therein. The caterpillars have only ten legs, six 

 before and four behind ; and they undergo their transforma- 

 tions in the ground. The insects called canker-worms in 

 this country, are of this kind. The moths from which they 

 are produced belong to the genus Anisopteryx* so named 

 because in some species the wings in the two sexes are very 



* Literally unequal wing. 



