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SPILOSOMA ACREA.
PLATE XX. Fig. 1.
This genus (the name of which is derived from σπιλος, macula, and σωμα, corpus) was first named by Mr. Stephens, in his Illustrations of British Entomology, and characterised in the following manner: Palpi short, a little descending, triarticulate, the two basal joints very hairy, the terminal scaly, the basal joint somewhat longer than the second, the apical rather small, oval, subconic; maxillæ short; antennæ slightly bipectinated in the males, serrated in the females, each articulation with a bristle at the apex; head rather small, hairy; thorax and abdomen rather stout in both sexes, the latter slightly tufted in the male, acute in the female; wings trigonate, deflexed, and opaque; legs moderately stout; anterior tibiæ short, with a spine internally, the four posterior with spurs at the apex. Larva slightly tuberculated, each tubercle producing a whisker of hairs; pupa obtuse, folliculated.
It contains a great number of species both British and foreign, remarkable for their beautiful white
