hind wings are almost entirely covered by the very broad central cyaneous mark, and there are also several spots on the hinder margin. The expanse of the wings varies from three to four inches.
OIKETICUS[1] KIRBYI.
PLATE IX.
Lansdown Guilding, in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 371.
This insect, as well as that next described, was first made known to entomologists by the Rev. Lansdown Guilding, in a paper read to the Linnean Society of London on the 6th June 1826, and published in the fifteenth volume of their Transactions. Its economy is so remarkable that it has ever since excited attention, and its history can scarcely fail to be read with interest. The most curious circumstance is that the female is entirely apterous, that she never leaves the puparium, but there receives the male and produces her eggs, after which she soon dies.
Various moths exist, both in this and other countries, the females of which are apterous; such as
- ↑ Named from οἰκητικὸς qui habitaculum quærere solet.
