THE LIMACODES. 
419 
which they eat. When about to be transformed, the most 
of them enclose themselves in cocoons, which are often very- 
hard and thick, made either of silk, or of silk mixed with 
fragments of wood and bark ; some make thin, semi-trans¬ 
parent, and filmy cocoons under a covering of leaves; some 
merely cover themselves with grains of earth, held togethei 
by silken threads ; and a very few go into the ground to 
transform, without making cocoons. The chrysalids tapei 
behind, and are not provided with transverse notched ridges 
on the back. The moths close their wings over the sides 
of the body like a sloping roof, when at rest; but the front 
edges of the hind wings never extend beyond those of the 
fore wings, and the bristles and hooks for holding the wings 
together are never wanting. The antennae are rather long; 
those of the males are generally doubly feathered on the 
under side ; but the feathery fringe is often very narrow 
towards the tips, and in the females is always narrower 
than in the other sex; in a few of both sexes the antennae 
are not feathered at all. The feelers and tongue, though 
short, are generally visible. The body is rather long, and 
not very thick. In what follows, a few only of the most 
remarkable species will be described. 
Among the many odd-shaped caterpillars belonging to 
this family, not the least remarkable are those which are 
called Limacodes, that is, slug-like, on account of their 
seeming w^ant of feet, their very slow gliding motions, and 
the slug-like form of some of them. In these caterpillars 
the body is very short and thick, and approaches more or 
less to an oval form ; it is naked, or, in some kinds, covered 
only with short down ; the head is small, and can be drawn 
in and concealed under the first ring; the six fore legs are 
also small and retractile; and the other legs consist only 
of little fleshy elev^ations, without claws or hooks. The 
under side of the body is smeared with a sticky fluid, which 
seems designed to render their footing more secure, and 
leaves a slimy track wherever the insects go. Their co- 
