218 



THE STUDY OF INSECTS. 



Family Megalopygid^e (Me-gal-o-pyg'i-dae). 



The Flannel-moths. 



Sometimes there is attracted to our evening lamp a 



whitish moth, whose w.ings, being densely clothed with long 



curly hairs, resemble bits of flannel ; this is the Crinkled 



Flannel-moth, Megalopyge cris- 

 pata (Me-gal-o-py'ge cris-pa'ta). 

 It is cream-colored, with the fore 

 wings marked with wavy lines of 

 crinkled black and brownish hairs. 

 The male is represented by Fig- 

 ure 246 ; the female is larger, 

 Fig. 2 4 e.— Megalopyge crisf>ata. expanding one and three fifths 

 inches. In the female the antennae are very narrowly pecti- 

 nate. The larva is said to feed on oak, elm, apple, and rasp- 

 berry. 



In the Southern States there occur three other species 

 of this family. These 

 moths are easily distin- 

 guished by the structure 

 of their wings (Fig. 247). 

 There are three anal 

 veins in both fore and 

 hind wings ; but in the 

 fore wings the second 

 and third anal veins (veins 

 IX and XI) are partially 

 grown together. The 

 basal part of vein V is 

 more or less distinctly 

 preserved, and divides 

 the discal cell into two 

 nearly equal parts. Veins 

 II and III of the hind 

 wings are grown to- 

 gether nearly to the end of the discal cell. 



IX VIII 



Fig. 247.— Wings of Megalopyge crispata. 



