MICRO-LEPIDOPTERA. 
48 
MICRO-LEPIDOPTERA. 
A few only of the innumerable species belonging to the four 
groups representing the micro-lepidoptera will be mentioned and fig¬ 
ured in this work. The detailed study of these minute creatures 
belongs to the specialist, and even he can only hope to become well 
acquainted with the species of a few genera. 
P TER OPHORIDJE. 
The Pterophoridce , or plume moths, have the wings divided into 
plumes or feathers. Their bodies and legs are slim, and the creat¬ 
ures are so delicate as to be difficult to capture and preserve with¬ 
out injury. Most of these insects are night flyers and may be met 
with from early in the spring till late in the fall. 
Various Forms of Plume Motlis. 
The caterpillars are hairy and spin no cocoon, changing to a 
naked chrysalis suspended from the end of the abdomen. The 
chrysalides of some species of these moths are also hairy. 
Pterophorus peutadactylus. 
The white plume moth (.Pterophorus peutadactylus') is not a com¬ 
mon insect in the East, but I have taken it on a few occasions with a 
lamp in June and July, and have seen it often in Northern Ohio and 
Virginia in those months. It flies slowly and is so exceedingly 
