CLASS I. INSECTA: 
ORDER 4. LEPIDOPTERA. 
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The repast finished, they return toward the nest, one commencing the movement, and the others 
taking up the hne of march. In this manner thej reach their habitation precisely in the order 
in which they left it." 
The larvae of several allied species have the same singnilar habit as the preceding. 
The Goat Moth, Cossus ligniperda, which is one of the largest British lepidoptera, also be- 
longs to this tribe ; the larva feeds uj^on the wood of willows, to which it often does immense 
damage. 
The Zigzag, Bomhyx dispar, has a short trunk or tube, not suited for suction ; the male is 
much smaller than the female ; his superior wings being brown with black zigzag figures. The 
female is whitish with black spots on her wings. This is a European species which sometimes 
does immense damage to the fruit-trees. If handled, it causes intense itching to the hands and 
fingers. 
THE NOCTUINA. 
This tribe includes a great number of moths of middling or large size, generally of dull colors, 
and strictly nocturnal in their habits. The antennas are generally bristle-like, a little longer than 
the head and thorax ; the wings large, the anterior pair longer but narrower than the posterior, 
which are slightly folded in repose. The caterpillars are generally naked, and furnished with 
sixteen feet. The pupse are usually inclosed in a loose cocoon. 
A few exceptions to the usual somber coloring of the insects of this tribe are to be met Avith, 
principally in species which are moer diurnal in their habits than the rest. The Catocalce and 
Trijohoence are distinguished by the bright red and orange color of their posterior wings, and the 
Plusice, which often fly in the bright daylight, have the anterior wings adorned with metallic 
tints and markings. 
THE GEOMETRINA. 
In these the wings are large and broad and the body slender. The name of the group is 
derived from the structure and habits 
of the caterpillars, which are popularly 
known under the various titles of Loop- 
ers, Measurers, Spamvorms, and Tailors. 
In progression they hold by their tho- 
racic feet, bring the hinder extremities 
close to these, bending their bodies into 
a loop, adhering by the pro-legs, and 
then again extending the fore part of 
the body for a fresh step. In this man- 
ner they proceed, apparently measuring 
the ground over which they travel, 
whence they have received the names 
above as well as that of Geometricians. 
Many of them present a close resem- 
blance, in color and texture, to a piece 
of dry twig, and they take advantage of 
this to deceive their enemies, adhering often for hours to one spot by their pro-legs, with the 
remainder of the body stretched out in a straight line. One species, the European Fidonia 
Plumistaria, is distinguished by curious feathery antenn93. 
The caterpillars of these insects are also very injurious to fruit-trees; those of the European 
Magpie Moth, Abraxas grossulariata, which inhabit gooseberry bushes, often strip them entirely 
of their foliage. 
The American Canker-Worm Moth, Anisopteryx i^ometao'ia, belongs to this abundant and 
prolific tribe. The caterpillars are usually hatched from their eggs in the spring ; when grown 
they are about an inch long, and of various colors. They attack apple-trees, and sometimes 
strip whole orchards of their foliage ; they also devour the leaves, buds, and blossoms of plum, 
cherry, and other fruit-trees, and also of ornamental and shade trees. 
THE FIDONIA PLUMISTAEIA. 
