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LITHOSIIDÆ.
This family was proposed by Stephens for the reception of a few moths, which he characterises as having the antennæ moderate, very slender, setaceous, sometimes pectinated or ciliated in the males; palpi not longer than the head, cylindric, terminal joint as short as, or shorter, than the second; spiral tongue generally longer than the head; wings horizontal, somewhat elliptic, the posterior much folded, the anterior without stigmata, thorax not crested, body slender. The larva is fusiform, sometimes hairy, with sixteen legs, solitary, either residing in a common web, or subcutaneous.
This family is of limited extent, but the species are generally of great beauty; their gay colours emulating those of butterflies, which they resemble by flying occasionally in the day, although the twilight is their proper season of activity. It is difficult to determine their true relations, for they seem to touch upon different families according to the point of view under which they are regarded. Linnæus referred such as were known to him either to the Tineæ, Bombyces, or Noctuæ, and they exhibit peculiarities which render such a distribution not unnatural, although they are now included in one group.
