54 
INTRODUCTION. 
blance to the fabled sphinx of antiquity, which led 
LinnEBus to distinguish them by that name. They 
in general live singly, and feed on the leaves of 
plants, principally of the herbaceous kind. "When 
about to be transformed, they undergo a sudden 
and total change of colour, their usual bright hues 
being converted into dull grey or brown. Prepara- 
tory to the same important operation, they merely 
scoop out an oval chamber in the earth, without en- 
closing themselves in a silken cocoon, being satisfied 
ndth the protection afforded by the slightly agglu- 
tinated particles of the circumjacent soil. The 
chrysalis is generally without angular projections, 
and in some instances the sheath containing the 
proboscis is prominent and detached, and curved 
downwards over the breast. 
The larvsB of the Zygenidae and Jigeridas, how- 
ever, which likewise pertam to the crepuscular sec- 
tion, recede considerably from the more characteristic 
forms and habits just described. They are destitute 
of a caudal horn, and those of the latter family 
gnaw the woody portions of trees and shrubs, form- 
ing a rude cocoon of the triturated fragments and 
undergoing their transformations in the interior; 
while those of the former live exposed on the foliage 
of plants, and spin a long oval or spindle-shaped 
cocoon, of a coreaceous texture, which they attach 
to the stem or branches. 
The last, and by far the most extensive section 
of the lepidopterous order, is that containing the 
