Page:Jardine Naturalist's Library Exotic Moths.djvu/225

177 LIMACODES CIPPUS. PLATE XXI. Fig. 2.

generic name (which signifies resembling a snail) refers to the appearance of the caterpillar, which is one of the most singular of the nocturnal Lepidoptera. It is destitute of feet, properly so called, their place being supplied merely by a few protuberances; and along the under side of the body there is a soft pliable membrane, always covered with a kind of glutinous matter, by means of which and the aid of the protuberances the creature is enabled to slide rather than creep over the surface of a body. The back appears composed of three parts, the intermediate of which is separated from the others by a kind of keel, and is oval, a little pointed at both ends; the lateral parts projecting a little beyond the edges of the body, properly so called, and forming a kind of ledge when viewed from below. The head is entirely retractile, and concealed under a circular portion of the ledge alluded to, which hangs over it like a kind of hood.