BRITISH LEPIDOPTERA. 



Superfamily VI : LACHNEIDES (continued). 

 Family : Lachneid^e. 

 Subfam. : Pachygastriin^e. 



This subfamily has always been looked upon as a strictly typical 

 Lachneid group. The early authors, however, did not separate it from 

 the allied subfamilies, and we find it included by Schrank, in 1802, in his 

 Lasioca?npa, with most of the then known Lachneid species, and by Och- 

 senheimer in section C of Gastropacha (where, however, Macrothylacia 

 rubi is placed with Pachygastria trifolii, P. var. medicaginis and Lasio- 

 campa quercus), whilst Germar included in his genus Lasiocampa, such 

 divergent species as dumeti, taraxaci, rubi, quercus, medicaginis, lobulina, 

 pini, neustria, castrensis, franconica and crataegi. Hiibner was the first 

 author to really separate the subfamily from the allied groups, and refer- 

 ence to our previous quotation from Hiibner's Verzeichniss (anted, vol. ii., 

 pp. 450 — 451) will give that author's views on the subject. He trans- 

 fers the name Lasiocampa to an Eutrichid group, and gives to the sub- 

 family that we now have under consideration the name Pac/iygastriae, 

 the first plural name applied to the group, and hence the one that we 

 prefer to use in forming the subfamily and tribal names. He included 

 in his genus Pachygastria the species trifolii, spartii, quercus and medica- 

 ginis. Meyrick unites (Handbook &c, p. 320) the species of this sub- 

 family into a single genus, Lasiocampa, and diagnoses it as : 



Palpi short. Forewings : 6, 7, 8, approximated at base, 9 to termen. Hind- 

 wings: 6 from angle of cell, 7 from upper margin before middle, 8 connected or anas- 

 tomosing shortly with 7. 



Staudinger, in the recently-published 3rd edition of his Catalog, 

 pp. 1 20-1 2 1, maintains this grouping also under the generic name 

 Lasiocainpa. The characters which Aurivillius gives (Lris, vii., p. 148) 

 for the subfamily read as follows : 



Imago. — Eyes (weakly and not uniformly) haired ; palpi short, not (or scarcely) 

 extending beyond the forehead, shaggily-haired, the terminal joint distinctly haired, 

 the hairs more appressed ; legs medium; femora with long hairs; the front tibiae 

 anteriorly with appressed scales, posteriorly with long hairs ; the middle and hind 

 tibiae long-haired all round, and armed terminally with two spurs ; all the tarsi with 

 appressed scales. Wings with margin entire or slightly wavy, with moderately long 

 to short fringes. Forewings with costa almost straight, or slightly arched behind the 

 middle, hind margin straight, outer margin more or less arched, and apex rounded ; 

 hindwings with costa arched at the base, afterwards straight, and outer margin more 



