492 
LEPIDOPTERA. 
also in other groups, e.g., Tinea in houses, Coleoptera, etc., on plants, 
but they are far smaller. 
The males are small delicate moths with dusky or hyaline wings and 
markedly pectinate antennae. They are very rarely seen and come out 
after dusk. The female is an undeveloped chrysalis-like insect without 
wings, which remains in the larval case. 
The life-history of the known species is as follows : The female is 
fertilised by the male in the case, the long protmsible abdomen of the male 
penetrating into the female case from above. Eggs are laid in the case, 
the female gradually shrinking up as the eggs fill the lower portion of the 
case. The larvae hatch, emerge from the parents’ case and make their 
own little cases of vegetable matter and interwoven silk; these cases are 
extremely tough and durable, with a characteristic form and constitu¬ 
tion for each species. Pieces of leaf, thorns, leaf-stalks or finely divided 
vegetable matter are woven into the case which is open at each end, the 
head and thorax of the larva emerging at one end ; progression is effected 
by the thoracic legs, the case being firmly held by the hind end of the 
body. This larva is a typical caterpillar with three pairs of legs and can 
extrude the thorax for purpose of locomotion, dragging itself and its case 
slowly along ; when full-grown the male larva closes the case after firmly 
fastening it, the caterpillar pupates head downwards, the pupa wriggles 
half through the lower open end and a moth emerges. The female larva 
moults, passes through a period of rest, and is found in the case as a vermi¬ 
form sac, without external structures and simply a bag of eggs with a 
genital opening below. The male seeks out the female, fertilises her by 
introducing his protrusible abdomen at the upper end of the case and 
stretching it to the lower end and she subsequently lays her eggs in a 
mass in the lower part of the case. Parthenogenesis occurs in one 
species, but is not known in any Indian species. 
Hampson lists 35 species, and has added five since, almost all from 
Ceylon or the hills. Actually very little is known of the group, as the 
moths are rarely captured and it is not always possible to rear the larvae* 
Species can, of course, be distinguished only from the male moth. No spe¬ 
cies is really common, but several species are likely to be found, as larva), 
in the plains. The life-history is a slow one, and to breed the males 
requires much patience, but it is the only satisfactory method. 
