Publ. 20. IV. 1033. 
General Topics. By Dr. A. Seitz. 
825 
26. Family : HepiaSidae. 
The phylogenetic relations of this lepidopteral family have already been referred to in Vol. II (p. 433) 
and Vol. XIV (p. 553), and we may repeat here that it is just the Hepialidae of the Indo-Australian region, 
which exhibit the most conspicuous hints for the assumption that this family represents a preliminary stage 
of the whole other lepidopteral world. The previously mentioned habitus resembling the shape of a dragon¬ 
fly is nowhere more distinctly shown than in the genus Gharagia, the most prominent species of which are 
figured on pi. 73 and 74. The round head with its enormous eyes in the male, which are almost contiguous 
above, the extremely long and slim abdomen composed of longish segments, the almost uniform shape of the 
long wings, the rudimentary antennae resembling short bristles, the remote parting points of the forewings 
and hindwings, all these features are most distinctly shown by the Gharagia and make us reflect the more 
since the life-habits of the dragon-flies, from which all these properties seem to have been borrowed, are 
diametrically opposed by those of the Hepialidae. The fact that owing to the atrophy of the antennae the 
eyes are compensatorily over-large may be regarded as a convergency in the Hepialidae and dragon-flies, but 
the whole structure of the Hepialidae being adapted to the shape of the dragon-flies cannot possibly have 
the same purpose as in the Odonatae, as an extremely swift and skilful flight is of vital importance to the 
predatory dragon-flies, whereas it can hardly be regarded as a vital condition for the Hepialidae — at least 
for those forms that are the most similar to dragon-flies. Many Hepialidae, such as the palaearctic Hep. 
humuli and hecta L., are obviously not interested in flying swiftly and frequently from one place to another, 
the males flying in a dancing, oscillating way around the same places, the females whizzing slowly over 
the grass in order to scatter their eggs. Thus the first thought to be considered is whether there are no 
actual relations of the Odonatae and Neuroptera to the Hepialidae-, this assumption has been supported by 
quite a number of other arguments in Voll. II and XIV on the pages quoted above. 
The Indo-Australian fauna may in subsequent years prove to abound most in Hepialidae, since recent 
explorations have ascertained a very much larger number of Australian species than it had been assumed 
hitherto. The largest species of the family, for instance Zelotypia stacyi (78 b) with an expanse of almost 
a quarter of a meter, live in Australia, though gigantic species are also found in Africa ( Leto venus), America 
(Phassus giganteus ), and even the eastern palaearctic region ( Phassus signifer). Regarding the other distribution 
of the family we refer our readers to what has been stated in Vol. XIV (p. 553). The Hepialidae being a 
primitive and, no doubt, the geologically oldest lepidopteral branch are best represented in Australia and 
New Zealand, while those continents that were populated latest with lepidoptera, such as North America 
and the western palaearctic region, exhibit a very small number of mostly insignificant species. 
Like very many archaic groups, the Hepialidae have neither proceeded yet very far beyond the larval 
life. The probably very long, mostly subterranean larval stage is followed by a short pupal stage and an 
extremely limited flying period. Both the life-time of the imago and particularly its flying-hour, which sometimes 
lasts merely for some minutes, are of a very short duration. From an absolute lethargy of nearly 24 hours, 
the imagines awake for a flight which often lasts only for 15 to 20 minutes and looks somewhat unwieldy 
in the large species owing to the apparently unrhythmical fluttering of the single wings, whilst the small 
species with a somewhat stouter abdomen, especially the strongly built and vigorously flying Abantiades 
(pi 57) fly rather energetically and swiftly. Some species fly rectilinearly, others in a zigzag way in ample 
oscillations, while large species float unsteadily along, small species often whizzing to and fro excitedly, or 
dancing in front of the tips of branches, of flowers or the like. 
We had already stated in Vol. II that the females of the Hepialidae frequently make love to the males 
and, in doing so, they are probably guided by the scent; some males at least exhibit the hind tibiae trans¬ 
formed into cases which, lacking the tarsi, are filled with scent-hair and which probably become scent- 
X 103 
