LKPIDOPTERA. 
506 
cryptically coloured, or at any rate, inconspicuously coloured. The grass 
moths are often ‘‘dry grass coloured” and equally inconspicuous, but 
Scirpophaga, for instance, is white and very conspicuous by day in its 
open resting position on a green leaf. Many Phycitince are grey, or 
modestly coloured and in their resting attitude blend with the shadows 
of the cool dark places in which they rest. Of the complex patterns of 
Nymphula , it is possibly near the truth to say that the minute marking 
blends with their surroundings in a manner we, with grosser sight, cannot 
appreciate. Of the Pyraustinez, with their variety of tints, no adequate 
explanation is possible. There is almost every tint of white, to yellow, 
green, brown, orange and so on, the colour pattern often complex and 
vivid, often a blending of soft tones with little contrast. 
The antennae are usually simple, the males with ciliations or tufts, 
with expanded basal joints or with pectinations. The characters of the 
male antennae especially are of value in discriminating species. The 
labial palpi are usually conspicuous, porrect or upturned, of varying 
length and very diverse form; in some they are large, and densely scaled, 
concealing the smaller labial palpi that lie above them; the small curled 
proboscis is not conspicuous and is frequently absent. The thorax 
and abdomen are typically slender, densely scaled ; the latter may be 
tufted or terminate in a tuft of long scales in the males. The legs are 
long, with distinct spurs. The wings arc usually slender, without long 
hair fringes, often with tufts of scales in the males ; they are in some 
sub-families wrapped round the body in repose, in others placed one 
over the other flat on the abdomen as in the Noctuids, rarely held 
out from the body as in the Rhopalocera. Males and females are com¬ 
monly similar in appearance, the males with ciliations of the antennse, 
dilated palpi, or tufts of scales on the wings, legs and abdomen. 
The life-history is uniform in general character throughout the group. 
The eggs are flattened, laid singly or in clusters upon the foodplant and 
are, as a rule, inconspicuous. A few species are known to cover them 
with hairs (Schcenobius , Scirpophaga). The larvae are, with exceptions, 
of one general type, cylindrical, tapering evenly to head and tail, the 
segments distinct; a prothoracic shield is present or absent, the prolegs 
are ten in number, and there are fine hairs set on flat tubercles, usually 
dark in colour. Tufts of hair and protuberances do not occur. In 
general the larvae live in concealment, either boring in stems or fruits, living 
