AND THEIR TRANSFORMATIONS. 105 
FAMILY [X.—NOCTUIDA, Srepnens. 
WE are now arrived at a family of very great extent, and tolerably well defined in its characters; the body 
being generally robust, the antennz almost constantly simple, being but rarely pectinated or ciliated in the 
males, the thorax stout and often crested, and the wings of moderate size with strong nervures, and generally 
with peculiar ear-like spots on the disc of the fore wings; the mouth is also well developed, the spiral tongue 
or maxillz being greatly elongated. . The wings in repose are ordinarily deflexed at the sides of the body, the 
labial palpi of moderate length, terminated suddenly by a small or very slender point, the preceding being very 
long and compressed. The body is clothed with scales, rather than with a coating of a woolly nature. The 
abdomen is elongate and conical in form, and but rarely as robust as in the Bombycide. 
The larve exhibit several modifications, but in the majority they are naked, with sixteen feet ; in some the 
first, and in others, the first and second pairs of the ventral feet are wanting. The anal feet, on the other 
hand, are always present. They are usually solitary, not residing in a web, neither are they subcutaneous ; but 
those of the genus Ceropacha twist up leaves similarly to those of the Tortricidee. These larve usually undergo 
their transformations under ground in cocoons, often formed of particles of earth mixed in with the silk. The 
pup are almost invariably of the ordinary conical form, with the head part rounded ; those of Calophasia 
Linarie (De Geer, Mémoires, vol. ii. pl. 8, fig. 1—6,) and of the Cuculliz, or Shark-moths, have the tongue- 
case greatly elongated. 
Mr. Stephens observes, “that the typical groups of this family, as their name imports, fly only by night, 
and repose during the day in the crevices of the bark of trees, old walls, palings,” &c.; though others fly not 
only by night, but also during the afternoon and at twilight. The position of the wings during repose varies 
much; in some groups (Triphzna, &c.) they are placed horizontally, and closely applied to the body, giving 
the insect a somewhat cylindrical form; in others (Catocala, &c.) they are also placed horizontally, but some- 
what expanded, and forming a triangle; in others (as Plusia) they are considerably deflexed, and the thorax 
is greatly crested. There is also considerable diversity in the form of the wings, though in general the anterior 
ones are elongate-triangular, and the posterior somewhat triangular-orbiculate ; some few have the posterior 
margins denticulated, and the anterior wings are mostly adorned with two stigmata, one more or less circular, 
the other kidney-shaped: a character rarely observed in any other family in this order. The colours of these 
insects are ordinarily very sombre, agreeing with their nocturnal habits; but in some which are accustomed to 
fly by day, we find the fore wings, and occasionally also the hind ones, more gaily ornamental. ‘This is the 
case with the Catocale or scarlet underwing moths, whilst the Plusie are adorned with patches of silver or gold 
on the fore wings. Some of the latter may occasionally be observed during the day darting about and hovering 
over long-tubed flowers, into which they insert their long spiral tongue. 
The family corresponds with the Linnzean section Phalena Noctua, and comprises nearly 800 (of which about 
400 are British) species, mostly of a large or moderate size, divided by Mr. Stephens into about eighty genera, 
often resting upon minute structural differences. In the work of Ochsenheimer, the family consists of forty-two 
genera, most of which correspond with the sections in the family proposed in the Wiener Verzeichniss, The 
classification of the family is certainly a matter of great difficulty, owing to the extreme similarity in the general 
appearance of the species, and which is greatly increased by the exotic species having been almost entirely 
neglected; although it is evident, from the figures of many species given by Drury, Cramer, Abbot and 
Smith, &c., that the extra-~-European species exhibit even greater diversity of form than those of Europe. 
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