Zoological Illustrations/VolIII-Pl149



Fabricii,

Red underwing Day-moth.


 * Antennæ clavatæ, clavo elongato, cylindraceo, fusiformi, ad apicem unco brevi, acuto armato. Palpi breves, graciles, haud prominentes, articulo ultimo nudo, obliquè verticales. Vertex ocellatus? ocello oculum juxta utrumque posito.


 * Obs. Caput parvum; alarum basis squamis conspicuis, elongatis imbricata.


 * Antennæ clubbed; club elongated, rounded, fusiform, ending in a short acute hook. Palpi short, slender, not projecting beyond the front, the last joint naked, obliquely vertical. Crown with a small ocellus? adjoining each eye.


 * Ob. Head small: base of the wings covered with conspicuous, lengthened, imbricate scales.


 * C. alis anticis, suprà ferrugineis; posticis rufis, fasciis 3 undatis, nigris, masculis ovatis interstinctis, ornatis.


 * Anterior wings above ferruginous; posterior rufous, with three waved bands of black, between which are imperfect oval spots.

The insects of this genus form one of the most singular groups among the Lepidoptera; they are few in number, and confined to the tropical regions of America; flying only during the meridian heat, and then with incredible rapidity: they frequent the narrow inlets of thick forests, occasionally resting, far above the ground, on the trunks of trees. The species here figured is very rare, and came from the Diamond district of Brazil: it is named after the illustrious entomologist who first founded the genus. The bases of the wings beneath are furnished, in the male, with a spiral socket and horny spring, similar to those of the Phalænidæ.