remarkable for the fact that its four species spend their larval state in the water, feeding on the under surfaces of the leaves of water lilies and other aquatic plants. These curious larvæ live either in cases which they construct for their protection, something after the fashion of the larvæ of caddis flies, or quite free in the water, and then they are supplied with special breathing organs that enable them to absorb the oxygen held in solution in the water.
The moth we have selected for illustration is a very common species, and may be seen flying in great numbers in the neighbourhood of ponds during June and July.
The Pterophori
The members of this remarkable group are easily distinguishable from all other moths by the feathery appearance of their wings, a feature that has gained for them the popular name of Plume Moths. Their fore wings are more or less divided or cleft, and their hind wings are generally divided into three distinct feathery plumes.
The larvæ are hairy, and when full fed they suspend themselves by their anal claspers, and change to the chrysalis state without any kind of covering. They are generally to be found in spring and early summer, but some of them feed in the autumn.
The chrysalides are often hairy, though some of them are perfectly smooth.
Plume moths are to be met with more or less throughout the year. Many of the earlier species appear on the wing in spring and early summer; but the late feeders emerge in the autumn, and hybernate through the winter, often taking to the wing on the mild days of our coldest months.
The Pterophori include only about forty British species, all of which, with two exceptions, belong to the family Pterophoridæ. The two exceptions represent as many families—one the Chrysocorididæ, and the other the Alucitidæ.
Platyptilia gonodactyla
This is one of the commonest of the Pterophoridæ, generally appearing in our gardens and in waste places towards the end of May, and continuing with us for some time. It starts from its retreat at or before sunset, and remains on the wing after dark.