the Larvae of the Noctuae.
23
VARIEGATE.
Plusiidae.—Larva with 12 or 16 legs, half-loopers.
Abrostola.—Larva with 16 legs, 1st pair of claspers
rudimentary.
Plusia.—Larva with 12 legs, other two pairs com-
pletely absent.
Gonopteridae.—Larva with 16 legs.
INTBUSAE.—See previous list.
LIMBATAE.—See previous list.
SERPENTINAE.
Ophiusidae (Genus Ophiodes).—Larva with 16 legs, the
two 1st pairs of claspers somewhat
shorter than the others.
Euclidiidae (Genus Euclidia).—Larva with 12 legs.
Poaphilidae.—(Phytometra AEnea, larva a semi-looper).
On this evidence alone—supposing for the moment that
larval characters were adopted as the basis of our classifica-
tion—we should be justified in regarding these latter groups
of the Noctuae as most closely allied to the Geometrae, and
this conclusion is fully borne out by the perfect insects, since
it is among these groups that we find the most Geometriform
Nocture, such as Brephos, Euclidia, and Phytometra.1 More
than forty years ago Professor Westwood insisted upon the
perfectly natural transition from the Nocture to the Geometrae,
"so beautifully effected by Catocala, Plusia, and other half-
loopers, as their larvae are termed, and Ophiusa, Erastria, &c."
('Introduction to the Classification of Insects,' vol. ii.,
p. 363.)
In order to avoid lengthy repetitions, I will in future
speak of the groups Bombyciformes and Genuinae as "Bomby-
ciform Noctuae," and of the Minores, Variegata, Intrusa, Lim-
bata, and Serpentinae as "Geometriform Noctuae." It is
obvious that the relationship of the latter to the Geometrae
is accurately expressed by the arrangement in Stainton's
'Manual,' whilst that adopted by Doubleday in the
1 The American genus Drasteria, allied to Euclidia, and the American
family Focillidae are also very geometriform in their imaginal characters.