606 
NOTODONTIDAE. General Topics. By Dr. A. Seitz. 
abdomen strongly recall, especially when by the desquamation the hairy cover of the anal joint is removed, 
the Sphingid type which, however, disappears in the resting insect by the above-mentioned quite different 
protective position. The latter is by all means necessary, since the larvae of the Notodonticlae mostly feed on the 
unpoisonous leaves of trees and, probably in nearly all cases, lack an interior poisonous protection *). That is 
also the reason why the imagines live very well hidden so that one may collect in tropical districts, where 
hundreds of Notodontid species live, for years without finding any Notodonticlae at all in the open air, although 
sometimes numbers of them are captured on the lantern. Also the larvae have therefore often to undergo 
most curiously distorted transformations of their shape (cf. Vol. II, p. 281) and sometimes exhibit distortions 
later on, which are absent in their youth, but appear when they grow larger. The dorsal notches of the “zigzag- 
larvae” are known from the northern temperate zone and may, as in the American Nerice, develop into serrate- 
dentate dorsal combs. The Stauropus which are distributed over the whole oriental region and the northern 
part of the Papuan region and represented in the Indo-Australian fauna by more than 20 forms have larvae 
of the peculiar shape of the palaearctic St. fagi, and their tropical representatives are often of a still thinner, 
spider-like and ghostly shape than the well-known European larva of fagi. However, most of the Notodontid 
larvae are green and adapted to leaves, or brown and similar to a branchlet; some of them, such as the 
Cerurinae, offer resistance as soon as they are discovered and seized. The larva of the American Anurocampa 
is known to spirt a corrosive liquid against its aggressor with an astounding accuracy of aim, for which reason 
it was named “mingens” ; a similar peculiarity is known of the larva of the pussmoth in all the faunae. 
Another group of larvae being evidently defenceless nevertheless exhibits conspicuous warning colours; 
but these larvae, in contrast with the otherwise mostly smooth Notodontid larvae, are covered with scanty 
though probably not quite harmless hair. This group approximates the genus Phalera. The larvae of the 
palaearctic and nearctic allies ( Datana ) are frequently bright yellow and black, and their striking character is 
increased by a peculiar defensive position, raising the front body in a Sphingid-like way and, at the same time 
lifting the anal segments. The larvae of the Indian Tarsolepis-growp number among the most conspicuous insects 
that exist; the dorsum being snow-white in some specimens borders on brightly orange and black spotted sides; 
the head and the pectoral legs are yellowish-brown, the whole insect scantily haired. But behind the head, 
where there are yet 2 thick black collars, and the anal segments are studded with club-shaped purple hairs. The 
thick, thorn-shaped hairs look as if they were filled, and it may be possible that they exert an inflammatory 
effect which would explain their peculiar shape and colouring. 
All the Notodonticlae are nocturnal, though some of them excitedly react by day upon being alarmed. 
Many come to the lantern at a very late hour of the night, and they probably fly exclusively for the sake of 
propagation, since the family seems entirely to lack a functional proboscis, at least in the genera occurring in the 
Indo-Australian region. They are very able flyers, though the are almost invariably lazier and clumsier 
than the however, no species of the family is known hitherto with stunted wings of the 
The districts chosen by the Notodonticlae for their patria are of rather different characters, but it is 
a fact that, as mentioned in Vol. II, p. 282, in the palaearctic region the plains are preferred, whereas in India 
they preferably inhabit the mountain districts. Thus, for instance, the level parts of Continental India contains 
very few Notodonticlae, whereas in the Himalayas about 80 percent of all the species of this family known from 
British India occur, a great many of them even exclusively. As the alpine districts of South India have not yet 
been thoroughly explored by entomologists, we may expect to obtain a great many new forms, especially from 
the mountainous parts of New Guinea. 
A very strange fact is that the Australian Continent is inhabited by relatively few members of this family. 
At the time when our 2nd volume was published, hardly one dozen species were known from Australia, and in 
New Zealand they are totally absent, which fact, however, is not to be wondered at, since this island contains 
very few lepidoptera anyhow. The Australian species are remarkable for the great development of anal wool 
exhibited by many species from there and even occurring in the Australian Cmira-species ( australis ), whilst 
no other species of Germ a is provided with it. 
The largest of the Indo-Australian Notoclontidae is Tarsolepis fulgurifera (79 a) with an expanse of 
12 cm at most; the smallest are some insignificant species of Pygaera (80 h); most of the forms are of medium 
size. On the whole, the tropical species are smaller here, whilst towards the palaearctic frontier and farther to 
the south, in Australia the larger forms occur. In many cases the species are characterized by the antennae 
being pectinated as far as about % of their length, after which they pass over into a bare whip. The palpi 
*) The exception in Cerura argentina Schultze in Africa and the strange influence of its habits on its exterior has 
been commented upon in Vol. NIV, p. 403. 
