212 



ELEMENTARY ENTOMOLOGY 



ones look quite like large bumblebees. They are readily recognized as 

 belonging to this family by the form of the body, wings, and antennae. 

 The saturnians (superfamily Saturnoided) include some forty-two 

 species of our largest silkworm moths, divided into four families, 

 which need not here be distinguished. The large, brilliantly colored 

 larvae are readily reared, and from the cocoons are secured the 

 handsome moths which are the pride of every collector. The males 

 of this group are easily distinguished from the females by their 

 broadly feathered antennae. The most important economic species 



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FIG. 335. Life history of silk moth (Bombyx mori] : adult ; caterpillars of different 

 ages ; silken cocoons ; pupa ; eggs. (Natural size) 



(After Jordan and Heath) 



of the group is the silkworm (Bombyx mori}, which is reared in 

 Europe and Asia for its silk, furnishing all the silk of the world. 

 It has been frequently introduced into this country, but, although it 

 can be grown here, its commercial culture has never proved suc- 

 cessful. It is one of the .smaller moths of the group, expanding one 

 and one half inches, the wings being of a cream color, with two 

 or three brownish lines across the fore-wings. The larvae are of a 

 creamy white color and feed on the leaves of the mulberry. Another 

 small species which often defoliates our maples is the green-striped 

 maple-worm (Anisota rnbicunda}. The caterpillars are one and one 

 half inches long, yellowish-green, striped with eight lighter lines 



