388 
The Moths and Butterflies 
jalsarius, one of the smallest members of the family, expanding f inch, com¬ 
mon in the East, is black with very narrow reddish collar. Pyromorpha 
dimidiata, expanding i inch, common in the Atlantic states, is black with 
translucent wings. The only other genus in the family so far unmentioned 
is Triprocris with eight species, all 
confined to the western states and all 
but two of them marked on body or 
wings with orange or yellowish. 
Of unusual and often very deceptive 
appearance are the clear-wing moths, 
or Sesiidae. With their often brightly 
colored black and yellow or red- 
banded tapering or plump bodies and 
partly or wholly clear wings, they 
resemble strongly, at first glance, wasps 
or bees, and are undoubtedly often 
taken to be such and thus left unmo¬ 
lested by both collectors and birds, two 
of their destructive enemies. For birds 
like almost all moths for food, and 
collectors especially prize the Sesians 
for the sake of their attractiveness 
and the sporting character of their pur¬ 
suit and capture, for they are among 
the swiftest of the moths. They fly 
in bright sunlight, visiting flowers,, 
and thus by their habits further in¬ 
crease their likeness to wasps and bees. 
There are one hundred species in the 
family in this country, and almost all 
have one or both wings partly or mostly 
clear, i.e., free from scales. A few 
Fig. 551.—Bag-worm; the larva of a moth moths of other families, as the clear- 
that' builds a protecting case out of w { n a e d sphinges and others, have sirni- 
silk and bits of sticks, in which its 0 . , , 
whole body except horny head, thorax, larly partly clear wings, but the very 
and legs is concealed. (Natural size.) narrow fore wings and widely expanded 
bases of the hind wings will distinguish the Sesians from the few other 
scattered clear-winged moths. The larvae are borers, mining in roots of 
fruit-trees, the canes and roots of small fruits, or in the stems of herbaceous 
plants. They are grub-like and yellowish white, with darker head and legs. 
When abundant they become very injurious, the notorious peach-tree borers 
being probably the most serious insect enemy of the peach-tree. 
