SYNTOMIDyE. 
433 
and not in two opposed lines. From the working point of view the 
Microlepidoptera becomes a useful assemblage of fairly distinct insects. 
We discuss first the typical Heterocera, following the order of Hamp- 
son’s Catalogue of Lepidoptera and enumerating at the head of each 
family the characters given by him as regards venation. The student 
will find descriptions, etc., in the Fauna of India and in the author’s 
subsequent papers, still being issued, in the Journal of the Bombay 
Natural History Society. 
Syntomim:. 
Hindwing with vein 8 absent or short , 1 c. absent. Forewing 
with vein 5 nearer 4 than 6. 
These moths have, as a rule, a peculiar facies, the wings have hyaline 
patches, the hind wing is often reduced in size. They are small or of 
moderate size, the colouring is bright and the plains species are day¬ 
flying. The student will confuse them with Zyganidce , from which 
they are distinguishable only on the venation. 
The life-histories of some Indian species are known ; eggs are round, 
yellow, laid in masses together on the foodplant or soil; the larvae are 
clothed in tufts of hair, dull-coloured and inconspicuous as a rule (Plate 
XXXIV). They make a cocoon of silk and hair on the soil. The moths 
are commonly found sitting exposed on grass stems and plants by day, 
the conspicuous colouring being apparently warning. Until more is 
known, it is impossible to discuss hibernation ; it is noticeable that 
Syntomis sperbius and S. cyssea are, in the plains, common in the cold 
weather both as moths and as larvae ; larvae have been reared on rabi 
(winter) crops, as well as on kharif (rainy season) crops ; it is uncertain 
whether we have some species which breed only in the cold weather and 
some only in the rains, or whether some breed all the year. Develop¬ 
ment is not rapid and there are probably few broods a year. None 
are known to be pests, though some feed upon cultivated plants. 
Hampson enumerates 1,100 species in the Catalogue of Lepidoptera 
Phalaenoe of which about 100 are u Indian ” and perhaps ten found in 
the plains. 
Psychotoe duvauceli, Boisd. (Plate XXXIV, fig. 8), is a small dusky 
moth, with smoky wings and the abdomen with two orange bands, dilated 
towards the apex. It is common in the plains though rarely noticed, 
in, 28 
