106
HEPIALIDÆ.
The Hepialidæ have a peculiar aspect, combined with minute peculiarities of structure, which renders the family one of the most distinct of all the Heterocerous Lepidoptera. They form the first group of Latreille's section Nocturna, which differs from that named Crepuscularia by having the antennæ setaceous, or tapering gradually to the tip. "They have the antennæ very short and filiform, never feathered to the tip; the spiral tongue is either obsolete or very short; the palpi are also generally obsolete; the abdomen is elongated, as are also the wings, which are deflexed in repose, the extremity of the former being attenuated into an ovipositor of considerable length, so as to be capable of being withdrawn, or introduced into the crevices of the bark of trees, &c.: the thorax is never crested; the nerves of the wing are far more complicated than in any of the preceding groups. The caterpillars are fleshy naked grubs, with a few straggling hairs; they are 16-footed (having 6 pectoral, 8 ventral, and 2 anal feet). They feed upon the wood of standing trees, or the roots of vegetables. When full grown, they construct a cocoon of the morsels of wood or vegetables upon which they have been feeding."[1]
- ↑ Introduction to the Modern Classification of Insects, by J. O. Westwood, vol. ii. p. 376.
