L ASIOCAMPIDiE. 
497 
long tufts projecting in front and short tufts laterally. They are all herbi¬ 
vorous and sometimes destructive. Pupation takes place in a cocoon of 
() mingled silk and hair, usually on 
the soil among leaves, etc. So 
far as known, hibernation takes 
place in the pupa stage and the 
insects breed freely in the rains. 
Over fifty Indian species are 
listed by Hampson of which about 
six are to be found commonly in the 
Fig. 332—Metanastria hyrtaca. Male, plains. Taragama siva, Lef. (Plate 
XLI, figs. 8-11), is a handsome 
moth, whose larva feeds on rose, on ber ( Zizyphus jujuha) and babul 
(.Acacia arahica) ; it is greyish brown with tufts of long hair, on the 
thorax are tufts of short dense hair which open to display a band of 
orange and bright blue hair. The cocoon is formed on a twig of the 
plant. Suana concolor, Wlk., is recorded as feeding on Sal ( Shorea 
robusta). 
Fig. 333— Metanastria hyrtaca. Female. 
The larva of Metanastria hyrtaca, Cram., was found by Forsayeth 
(Trans. Ent. Soc., London, 1884, p. 407) to feed upon the mohwa tree 
(Bassia latifolia). It has been reared from Albizzia stipulata. The grey 
larva is clothed in black hairs, with a velvety black patch on the rnesono- 
tum, which is concealed by the skin except when the larva stretches 
out. 
iil 
32 
