THE FORK-TAIL MOTH. 
423 
an inch and a half in length, without including the terminal 
fork. Caterpillars of this kind are called Cerura^ hojrned- 
tail, by some, and Dicranura^ forked-tail, by other natural¬ 
ists. Early in August the one above described makes a 
tough cocoon of bits of wood and bark glued together with 
a sticky matter, and fastened to the side of a branch, the 
lower side being flat and the upper convex. The last trans¬ 
formation occurs about the middle of June, when, after the 
end of the cocoon has been softened by a liquid thrown out 
by the insect within, the moth forces its way through. This 
insect has been figured in Mr. Abbot’s work,* where it is 
called farcula^ a name, however, which belongs to an Euro¬ 
pean insect. It is also represented in Guerin’s “ Icono- 
graphie,” and in Griffith’s translation of Cuvier’s “ Animal 
Kingdom ” ; and I have adopted the specific name given to 
it bv Dr. Boisduval in these works. Cerura borealis, the 
northern Cerura, or fork-tail moth, like others of the genus, 
has the antennas feathered in both sexes, but narrow, and 
tapering and bent upwards at the point; the legs, especially 
the first pair, which are stretched out before the body when 
at rest, are, like those of our native Limacodes, very hairy; 
and the wings are thin and almost transparent. The ground- 
color of our moth is a dirty white ; the fore wings are 
crossed by two broad blackish bands, the outer one of which 
is traversed and interrupted by an irregular wavy whitish 
line ; the hinder margins of all the wings are dotted with 
black, and there are several black dots at the base, and a 
single one near the middle of the fore wings ; the top of 
the thorax is blackish, and the collar is edged with black. 
In some individuals the dusky bands of the fore wings are 
edged or dotted with tawny yellow ; in others, these wings 
are dusky, and the bands are indistinct. They expand from 
one inch and three eighths to one inch and three quarters. 
The following insects, for the sake of convenience, may 
be included in the old genus Kotodonta, The first of them 
* Insects of Georgia, p. 141, pi. 71. 
