510 
LEl'IDOPTERA. 
own. I am not aware that any attempt had been made 
by European naturalists, before the publication of the first 
edition of this treatise, to determine the modern genus to 
which the Angoumois moth belongs, or to clear up and 
make known the synonymy of this species. This labor 
seems to have been left to an American, remote from the 
scene of the early and long continued depredations of the 
insect, and deprived of the common facilities enjoyed by 
European naturalists. 
7. Feather-winged Moths. ( Alucita .) 
The last tribe of Lepidoptcrous insects remaining to he 
noticed contains the Alucitaj of Linnaeus, or feather- 
winged moths, called Pterophouidjg by the French natu- 
ralists- These moths are easily known by their wings 
being divided lengthwise into narrow, fringed branches, 
resembling feathers. The fore wings in the genus Ptero- 
phorus are split, nearly half-way, into two, and the hind 
wings are divided, to the shoulder-joint, into three feathers ; 
and each of the wings, in Alucita , consists of six feathers, 
connected only at the joint. The antennaj of these moths 
are slender and tapering ; the tongue is long , the feelers 
are two in number, and of moderate length ; and the body 
and legs are very long and slender. When at rest, their 
wings do not cover the body, but stand out from it on each 
side, not spread however, but folded together like a fan, so 
that only the outer part of each of the fore wings is visible. 
They fly slowly and feebly, some of them by day, and oth- 
ers only at night, and, when on the wing, they somewhat 
resemble the long-legged gnats. Their caterpillars are 
rather short and thick, are clothed with a few hairs, and 
have sixteen short legs. Most of them live on the leaves 
of low or herbaceous plants, and, when about to change to 
chrysalids, they fasten themselves by the hind feet and by a 
loop over the back, like the Lycaenians. Those which be- 
