June 3, 1884.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



911 



September. The larvaj could not be reared beyond that 

 date, the weather not being warm enough. It may be 

 that oak leaves are not a proper kind of food for Mylitta 

 larvK ; although they have .been reared on oak, they did 

 not seem to thrive well on it. Major Coussmaker lately 

 informed me that Mt/liita larvaj feed well on rose branches, 

 and these should be used in future, together with oak and 

 horn-beam, so as to find out on wtiich plants they will thrive 

 best. 



A description of the larvaj in its six stages has already 

 appeared in one of my previous reports, that for the year 

 1879. The interesting pamphlet on "The Tussm {Mylitta) 

 Silkworm," by Major G. Coussmaker, gives full particulars 

 on the cocoon, moth, egg, larvas and food-plants of this 

 valuable wild silkworm. It was published in 1873 by E. and 

 F. N. Spou. 



As I have stated, the Mi/litta larvae I reared only up 

 to the fourth stage. Many died at the different stages, 

 bnt some whre sent in all their stages to Mr. F. Moore, of 

 the liethnal-green Museum, and these were beautifully 

 drawn and coloured, together with larvre of other species 

 by Mr. Moore's son. 



Attacus Cynthia or AUanthus Silkworm. — This silkworm 

 is the easiest to rear in the open air in England; next to 

 it i-s Antheraa I'cniyi. Moths of Attacus Ci/iitliiii, in \SS3, 

 commenced to emerge on the 3rd of June, and they continued 

 emerging till the end of the same month. Thirty pairings 

 were obtained, producing thousands of eggs and larv*. 

 Having had no AUanthus trees bearing any foliage this 

 year after their transplantation, I had to try the rearing 

 of the worms on various trees. I placed the immense 

 quantity of worms I obtained on rose-trees climbing against 

 the house, on maples, on a mountain ash, on a common 

 ash, on lilacs, and on laburnums — alone, those which had 

 been placed on the laburnums thrived, but not near so well 

 as they do on the Ailanthus tree, their natural food plant. 

 A few larv:e, out of a large number, also thrived on the 

 lilac trees and on the common ash. The thousands placed 

 on the other trees disappeared in the first stage, and in 

 all probability because the foliage did not suit them, .as 

 they could not have all been destroyed by the msects that 

 prey upon them. 



The sparrows, as usual, do not seem to have touched any 

 of the Cynthia larvaj, which commenced to form their 

 cocoons on the laburnum trees on the 3rd of August, and 

 the last on the 27th of September. 



North A merican Species. — Idea polyvhemu^.—Motbs emerg- 

 ed from the 23rd of May to the 25th of June. Only three 

 pairings were obtained, one on the 20th, and two on the 

 23rd of June. On the 25th, a female I'olyphtmus paired 

 with a male Cecropia, but the eggs, as usual, were not fertile. 

 The larvM were very successfully reared in the open air, 

 on the small trees in the garden, in spite of bad weather, 

 during the last stage. The first cocoon was commenced 

 on the ISth of September, and the last on the 7th of October. 

 Actius luiia.—Oi this species I had no cocoons, but eggs 

 were sent to me from France, and from three American 

 correspondents. Of the latter, some were sent from the 

 State of Iowa, which hatched and died during the voyage; 

 some sent from llhuois hatched on the 11th of .Tune, the 

 day of or after their arrival. Others I received from New 

 York, which had hatched during the voyage, and died 

 afterwards. On the 2Sth of July I again received from 

 New York two boxes, which, on being opened swarmed with 

 young larv.T in splendid condition; these larv;e were from 

 the second brood of Actius lumi, the species being double- 

 brooded. 



"Want of time prevented me from rearing such a quantity 

 of /inia larv;o, especially on account of the difliculty I have 

 to obtain walnut leaves, on which they seem to thrive better 

 than on other kinds of foUage. I therefore only reared 

 a small number in the house. 



Eggs sent from America are placed, as I suggested a few 

 years ago, in a muslin bag containing leaves of the food 

 plant, and then the bag is inserted in a tin box hermetically 

 closed, so that the leaves keep, and arrive as fresh as if 

 they liad just been cut off the tree, although some small 

 portions may decay or rot. If the eggs are sent as soon 

 as they have been laid, many of them have time to arrive 

 in England in good condition, after a voyage not exceeding 

 fifteen or sixteen days. If some or all of the larvie hatch 

 during the voj^age, they feed at once, and grow during the 



two, three, or four days they may have to remain in the 

 box. It takes about twelve days for the/i«ia larvre to hatch- 

 some other eggs require more time, and therefore can be 

 sent with better chance of success. The great risk which 

 the eggs and larvK have to run is this, that the droppings 

 of the feeding larvje, falling on the moist leaves, create at 

 once a rot or a fungus which is often fatal to the larvEe, 

 and also to the eggs which have not hatched. But a pro- 

 portionate number of larvas and eggs escape, and arrive in 

 good condition, especially if there is sufiicient room for them 

 in the box. Certain species can only be sent in the e"g 

 state, and this method of sending is the only one that can 

 be adopted, and we must be satisfied if only a few eggs or 

 lai-vre are saved. 



Hyperchiria io. — Moths of this bright and beautiful little 

 species, described in former reports, began to emerge on 

 the 4th of June, and continued to emerge till the fii-st 

 of July. The moths pair readily, if they are in good con- 

 dition, i.e., if the w'ugs are fuUy developed, especially in 

 males. Fourteen pairings were obtained, which must have 

 brought the number of fertile eggs to about 5,000 and even 

 more. I bred a quantity of the larvai very successfully in 

 the house, under glasses. They are easy to rear-, but Uve 

 a long time before forming their thin cocoons. I also bred 

 a number of them in the open air on sali.v caprea ; they were 

 larger, and grew quite as fast as those I had in the house. 

 Samia proviethea. — Moths of this species emerged from 

 the 25th of June to the 16th of July; twelve pairings were 

 obtained. On the 1st of July a male Cynthia paired with 

 a female Promethea, but the eggs laid did not hatch. The 

 pairings of this species, which are short, are easy to obtain 

 and they generally take place between 6 and S o'clock in 

 theeveuing. A small number of Promethea larva; were placed 

 on a small cherry-tree in the garden, but they were destroyed 

 when in the first .stage. A^ mentioned in previous reports 

 they feed also on lilac. 



Platysamia Cecropia. — Of this, the largest North American 

 silk producer, I received an immense quantity of cocoons 

 from various States: Iowa, llhuois, Delaware, New York 

 &c. With the cocoons I had preserved I obtained 19 or 

 20 pairings. On the 25th of June, a male Cecropia paired 

 with a female Polyphemus, the eggs being unfertile. I record 

 these pairings to show that whenever the species are not 

 closely allied, the eggs have invariably been unfertile. X 

 have heard of fertile ova obtained by the crossing Promethea- 

 and Cynthia, but I never obtamed such fertile ova, although 

 I have had many pairings between these two species. 



The Cecropia moths emerged from the 24th of May to 

 the 23rd of July. Ova of Cecrojiia, sent to me from Iowa 

 all hatched on the day they arrived, and the larva; thrived 

 splendidly. 



The thousands of larvas which I obtained were, except 

 a few, placed on all the apple, pear, and plum trees in 

 the garden, and also on some currant bushes, but as soon 

 as they had reached the second or third stage, they were 

 all destroyed by the sparrows and other birds. Late in 

 Ociober I found a full grown Cecropia larv.x' which had 

 escaped the eye of the sparrows, on a currant bush. The 

 weather being then very wet and cold, I brought it into 

 the house, but it died while attempting to form its cocoon. 

 From one of the Cecropia cocoons, there emerged in .June 

 a most e.xtraordinary specimen, remarkable alike for its 

 size and the exquisite beauty of its various colom-s. As 

 I have been asked weather the cocoon from which the 

 moth emerged differed from the other Cecropia cocoons 

 I must state that I did not notice any dih'erence in the 

 cocoons, and there wei-e about 100 in the cage. I was then 

 so busy that I entirely neglected to examine the cocoons : 

 in fact, I did not think of it, and I very much regret not 

 to have examined the cocoons. Later on, the cocoons 

 together with Cecropia cocoons from other cages, were all 

 thrown into a large box with cocoons of other .species; and 

 some were given or thrown away. However, had there been 

 a difference, and especially a notable difference, between the 

 cocoon which produced the wonderful specimen and the 

 other cocoons, I should certainly have noticed it. 



Up to the present time, I have not heard that any such 

 specimen has ever been seen, and as I stated, I consider 

 it as an extraordinary aberration of Cecropia. The specimen 

 has been photographed, natural size, and I have coloured 

 a few copies of it, so that persons wishing to see it may 

 have a representation of it. 



