Tull. 23. III. 08. 
ZYGAENIDAE. By Dr. K. Jordan. 
o 
2. Family: Zygaenidae, Burnets. 
First (anterior) submedian vein in both wings developed, with the exception of the genus Akesina 
Moore.*) Forewing without areole. Frenulum and retinaculum are only wanting in the long-tailed Himan¬ 
topterinae. A more or less distinctly prominent vein in the cell of both wings developed from the base to 
the end of the cell. Costa of the hindwing mostly separated from the cell, running parallel with it and 
connected with it by a short oblique nervure (= first subcostal), more rarely the costa coincident with the 
cell. Ocelli mostly present; they are absent in all the Himantopterinae and some Phaudinae. Claws without 
tooth. — Egg above somewhat impressed, with very weak sculpturing. — Larva 16-legged, with small 
head, which is retracted into the thorax; all the segments with bristle-bearing tubercles; ventral legs with 
a half-circle of hooks. In shape reminding one of the larva of Limacodidae. Lives free on leaves, more 
rarely mining. According to Doherty the larvae of Himantopterus fuscinervis live with Termites. — Pupa 
in a loose or firm cocoon; abdominal segments and the extremities of the leg- and wing-cases free; on the 
abdominal segments a row of sharp little hooks, with the help of which the pupa pushes itself forwards 
partly out of the cocoon before the emergence of the moth. 
Day-tlying insects of mostly very bright colouring. Metallic colours predominate, but there are also 
uniformly dark or yellow forms without gloss. They are mostly slow fliers, and often feign death when 
touched. These insects are very tenacious of life; their weak body contains an acrid fluid which protects 
them against the predations of insectiverous enemies. Some forms have glands in the thorax, out of which 
when they are touched a frothy liquid exudes. They mostly hang lazily on flowers, commonly quite a 
number on the same flower-head; in the hot sunshine however the cfcT of many species become lively and 
boom along with a straight flight. In the markings, colouring and form many Zygaenidae are very similar 
to other moths with which they are not nearly allied, especially forms of the families Geometridae, Syntom- 
idae and Arctiidae, as well as Pierids and Danaids. 
The agreement of the smaller Zygaenids with the Syntomids in their general appearance, especially 
in the contour and the relative size of the wings, even caused the older authors to regard the insects as 
closely allied to one another, and to include them in one family. But the small wings of the Zygaenids do 
not indicate any real relationship with the Syntomids; indeed they are only found in a part of the whole 
family of the Zygaenidae. The Chalcosiinae with their broad wings and strongly pectinated antennae must 
be regarded as in many respects the primitive Zygaenids, although in other respects again these Chalco- 
siids are more specialised than the true Zygaenids. It is quite a general phenomenon, which is met with 
everywhere when investigating the derivation of animal forms, that an animal form or a group of forms 
(genus, family, etc.) which in one or other respect is more primitive than a second form, in other organs 
stands much higher than the second one. This is shown in the Zygaenids in a very pronounced way. 
The Oriental Zygaenidae belong to 4 subfamilies, which may be differentiated as follows: 
A. Himantopterinae. — Mouth-parts aborted. Ocelli, retinaculum and frenulum wanting. Hindwing 
produced into a long, thin tail. 
B. Phaudinae. — Mouth-parts usually aborted; the forms with lo\jg palpi have no ocelli. Scaling rough; 
without strong metallic gloss. 
G. Chalcosiinae. — Tongue (in all the Indo-Australian forms) present. Body more or less metallic. 
Foretibia without spur, middle- and hindtibiae each with one pair of apical spurs. Ocelli always 
present. 
D. Zygaeninae. — Tongue present. Foretibia with spur. Ocelli present. 
A. Subfamily: Himantopterinae. 
Mouth-parts aborted. Ocelli wanting. Antenna of the cf with long, of the $ with short pectinations. All 
the tibiae without spurs; claws as in all the other Zygaenids without tooth. Forewing elongated, distal margin 
long, hindmargin short, costal area broad; upper angle of the cell produced; median nervures much more proximal 
than in the other Zygaenids, 2. median branching off considerably before the middle of the cell, the upper sub¬ 
median sometimes absent. Retinaculum and frenulum wanting. Hindwing produced into a long tail, often the 
whole wing very narrow; costa coincident with the subcostal from the base to at least J /3 of the cell. — The 
earlier stages are not known to us; the larvae according to Doherty in Termites’ nests. — In consequence of their 
long drawn-out hindwings these peculiar insects, hithero only found in Africa and in the Indo-Malayan subregion, 
resemble the Tipulids and the Neuroptera family Nemopteridae. They are usually met with resting on leaves, and 
are evidently poor fliers, falling into the net when the bushes are beaten and remaining there lying as if dead or 
with a quivering motion of the wings. They are rare and mostly only taken in single specimens, yet once or twice 
large numbers have been found, probably in the neighbourhood of the Termites’ nests. As the anal extremity of 
the ?, as in some other Zygaenids (e. g. in some species of Pollanisus ), is thickly covered with short scale-hairs, 
*) In the Ethiopian Region there are several genera in which the 1. submedian vein is absent. 
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