State Agricultural Societt. 
905 
HABITS OF TIIK MOTH. MOTH DESCRIBED. 
primrose, upon my attempting to impale it dropped itself to the 
ground without so much as opening its wings to tty, and merely 
sought to crawl under some covert there for concealment, freely 
mounting upon my hand when placed in its way, and appearing 
very dull in its motions and as though it were drowsy and stupefied 
under the influenc of some narcotic. 
The two sexes are remarkably alike in size, in color and in the 
structure of their antennae. The only particular in which they 
perceptibly differ is in the termination of the body, which in the 
female tapers to a simple point whilst in the male it is furnished 
with large flattened valves which are fringed and densely coated 
over with hairs. The female probably drops her eggs singly here 
and there upon the flower buds of the primrose. 
This motii has a slender body, the dried specimens both of the male and female 
most commonly measuring 0.C0 in length, and 1.30 in width across the extended 
wings. The head is bluntly rounded in front and is smoothly clad with hairy 
scales which are usually white, but in some examples pale red. The antennae 
when turned backwards surpass the thorax in length, and are thread-like, being 
scarcely thicker towards their bases than at their tips. In both sexes very short 
minute hairs project along their undersides. They are of a white color with the 
underside pale orange. The palpi or feelers project horizontally forward, their 
tips slightly surpassing the front. They are covered with rose red hairs which 
are smoothly pressed upon the surface, with the very small apical joint visibly 
protruding at their tips. The spiral tongue about equals the antennae in length 
and slightly surpasses them in thickness towards its base when viewed in front. 
The thorax is densely covered with white hairs, their ends forming an even, smooth 
surface. The collar is usually of a delicate rose red color, but in some specimens 
white. The fore breast is bright rose red. The abdomen is rather slender, coni¬ 
cal, projecting farther back than the extended hind wings, and in the males ends 
in large flattened valves which are fringed and densely coated over with straw- 
colored hairs. Its surface is smoothly covered with short white scales, those on 
the hind edges of the segments being straw yellow. The underside is pale red, 
except at the tip. The legs arc rose red and on their underside white, the thighs 
having each a tuft of long white hairs underneath. The anterior shanks are short 
with a strong brown claw at their tips and two or three spines above, in a row 
with it, and on the opposite side a row of several brown spines. The middle and 
hind shanks are rather long and slender, with a pair of long spurs at their tips, 
and the hind ones with a second pair placed above those at the tip. The fore 
icings are narrow, being 0.58 long and but half as broad in their widest part. They 
are straight on their outer or costal side, rounded at their tips, their hind edge 
from thence straight to the middle, where it is slightly rounded and again becomes 
straight till it approaches the inner angle, the inner edge being also straight two- 
thirds of its length. These wings are of a delicate bright rose red color, with the 
axilla white, and the hind border pale bright yellow, this last color varying in its 
width, in different specimens occupying from a third to less than a fourth of the 
