436 
LEPIDOPTERA. 
the inner hind angle. Of those that want this character on 
the fore wings, the largest American species, known to me, 
may be called Apatela Americana-^ (Fig. 216), which has 
been mistaken * for Apatela Acerk^ the maple-moth of Eu¬ 
rope. Its body and fore wings are light gray; on the latter 
Fig. 216. 
there is a wavy, scalloped white line edged externally with 
black near the outer hind margin, and the usual round and 
kidney-shaped spots are also edged with black; the hind 
wings are dark gray in the male, blackish in the female, with 
a faintly marked black curved hand and central semicircular 
spot; all the wings are whitish and shining beneath, with a 
black wavy and curved band and central semicircular spot on 
each; the fringes are white, scalloped, and spotted with 
black. It expands from two inches and a quarter to two 
inches and a half, or more. This kind of moth flies only at 
night, and makes its appearance between the middle and the 
end of July. The cat¬ 
erpillar (Fig. 217) eats 
the leaves of the va¬ 
rious kinds of maple, 
and sometimes also 
those of the elm, lin¬ 
den, and chestnut. It 
is one of the largest 
kinds; and, early in October, when it arrives at maturity, 
[24 Americana is synonymous Avith Acronycta acericola Guende. — Morris.] 
• See Phalcena Aceris, Smith, in Abbot’s “Insects of Georgia,” p. 185, pi. 93. 
Fig. 217. 
