Family—Zygænidæ
The remaining family of the Sphinges—the Zygænidæ—includes seven British species, three of which are known popularly as the Foresters and the others as the Burnets.
Their antennæ are thickest beyond the middle, but do not terminate in a hook. Their wings are narrow and completely covered with scales.
These moths are very sluggish creatures, spending the greater part of their time at rest on the stems of low-growing plants. When they do fly, their flight is short and heavy, and their pretty wings glisten in the sunshine (for they are lovers of the sun), giving them the appearance of bees rather than of moths. On account of this natural sluggishness, they are exceedingly local, for they never move far from the spots where their food plants abound, and where they had previously spent the earlier stages of their existence. Thus we often come across a very limited piece of ground actually alive with them, and outside which not a single specimen is to be seen.
The larvæ, too, are sluggish creatures, with soft and plump cylindrical bodies and no horns. I will briefly describe three members of this family.
The Forester (Ino Statices)
The fore wings of this species are semi-transparent, and of a beautiful glossy green. The hind wings also are semi-transparent, but of a dull smoky tint. The thorax and abdomen are both of a brilliant metallic green colour. The tips of the antennæ are blunt, and the male may be distinguished from his mate by these organs being slightly fringed or ciliated.