MEMOIKS OF THE XATIOXAL xVCADEMY OF SCIENCES. 
7 ^ 
Fig. 45.— Pupa of Nolu ovilla; A, and of body of 5 ; li, 
head; p, paraclj'peal piece; mx.' p, labial or second max* 
illary palpi. 
This group (Eufemia, CEta, and Taiitura) almost directly intergrade, judging by the venation, 
with the Lithosiidai; Byssophaga, Cistheiie, and Crocota connecting them with Lithosia, thougli the- 
larvie of the latter are muck more specialized and Arctiiform. Hence the line of descent from 
the generalized Tineiiiatp the group represented by Euicmia, (Eta, and Tauturato the Lithosiidie 
and from these to the Arctiidie is more or less direct. 
It is interesting to note the gradual widening of the 
wings, especially the fore wings, as we pass from Lithosia 
to Arctia; also to notice the gradual change in the 
larval and pupm characters, those of the Arctiiau 
l)upie being sliglitly less primitive than in the more- 
generalized Lithosikhe. 
It is also interesting to note that in ascending from 
the Tineoid precursors of the Lithosiidie to the mem- 
bers of the latter family 
we ])ass from incomplete 
to obtected X)upie, show- 
ing that the division into 
incompletiv and jnipw 
ohtecUv may be at times 
artificial, these divisions 
placing arbitrary metes 
and bounds to series i)ass- 
ing from the more gener- 
alized to the more special- 
ized forms, and ])erhax)S 
representing unbroken 
lines of descent. 
Famihf Kolida \ — The structure of the \n\\)a of Fohi (fig. 45, A. 
ovilla), besides its larval and adult characters, convinces me that 
the genus is the type of a distinct lamily, and forms a line of descent 
somewhat parallel with and near to the Lithosiidfe. The pupa has 
the labial x^alpi well devel()i)ed and the paraclypeal pieces large. 
The end of the abdomen is rounded and uncovered, in adaptation 
to its in closure in a dense cocoon. 
Family Syntomulw , — The position of the Syntoniidm is difficult 
to determine. The impa is obtected, though it has 
ill Scepsis retained the labial palpi. Judging by 
the larval and pux)al characters, the family stands 
much nearer the Arctiida^ than the Zygicnidm, but 
yet is more generalized than the former. In the 
venation the group stands near the Arctiidm, i. e., 
the venation of the generalized Gtenucha aiix^roxi- 
mates that of FiyicalUa viryinaliti, whWn in Hidasys 
and Syntomis the venation is more aberrant and 
modified; so also are the long-tufted larvic of 
Syntomis and Cosmosoma, comiiared with that of 
Otenucha, in which the tufts are shorter, less 
developed, and less sxiecialized. 
A dew to the oriym of the gcometrid moths . — In 
examining the x)ux>a of Phryganidia californica, and 
finding the more essential features to be as much like those of the geometrid moths as any other 
gronx>, I came upon results entirely uuexxiected to myself and which giv(^ a clue to the origin of this 
great groux^ of moths. It has become evident that Phrygaiiidia can neither be x>laced among the 
Zygicuidui or Syntomidai, though x>ossessing some pterogostic features like those of the latter groiii>. 
Fig. 4Q.—'Pnim o( Phryganidia californica; a, auus; A, end- 
of body, Bide A'iew, lyitb ('remaster. 
