August i, 1882.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



17s 



and a pairing was obtained ; but the weather being 

 then too coUl, the ova were not fertile, the female 

 moth, after laymg about 200 eggs, lived till the •22nd 

 of March, which is a very long time ; this was owing 

 to the low temperature. The moths emerged afterwards 

 from the 8th of April till the 25th of .Tune. A pairing 

 took place on the 2nd of ,Tune, and another on the 

 6th of ,Iune. 



Rmjh'i (the Himalaya oak silkworm), is very closely 

 allied to Pi'i-njii, the Chinese oak silkworm, the Roijlei 

 niotlis are of a lighter colour, but the larvae of both 

 species can hardly be distinguished from one another. 

 The principal difference between the two species is in 

 the cocoon. The RoyUi cocoon is within a very large 

 and tough envelope, whilst that of Permji has no 

 outer envelope at all. The larvoe of lioi/ki I reared 

 did not thrive, and the small number I had only 

 went to the 4th stage, owing to several causes. I 

 bred them under glass, in a greenhouse. A certain 

 cumber of the larvte were unable to cut the shell of 

 the egg. 



Here are a few notes I find in my book : — Ova of 

 Roylci commenced to hatch on the 29th of June; 

 second stage commenced on the 9tli of .July. The 

 larvK in the first two stages seemed to me similar 

 to those of Periiiji, as far as I could see. In second 

 stage, the tubercules were of a brilliant orange-red; 

 on anal segment, blue dot on each side. Third stage, 

 four rows of orange-yellow tubercles, two blue dots on 

 anal segment, brilliant gold metallic spots at the base 

 of the tubercles on the back, and silver metallic 

 spots at the base of the tubercles on the sides. No 

 further notes taken. 



One of my eoirespondents in Vienna (Austria) 

 obtained a remarkable success in the rearing of Roylei. 

 From the 25 eggs he had 2.3 larv.T? hatched, which 

 produced 23 fine cocoons. The same correspondent, 

 with 35 eggs of Snmia Gloveri, obtained 20 cocoons. 

 My other correspondents did not obtain any success 

 in rearing these two species, as far as I know. 



Hybrid Roylei -Ferny i. — I have said that it is extremely 

 difficult to obtahi the pairing of Roylei moths in 

 captivity. But the male Pernyi paired readily with 

 the female Roylei. I obtained six such pairings, and a 

 Large quantity of fertile ova. The pairings of Roylei 

 (female) with Pernyi (male) took place as follows : two 

 on tlie 21st of May, one on the 3rd of June, two on 

 the 4th of June, and one ou the 6th. 



The larva? of this new hybrid, Roylei-Pernyi, cou- 

 trai-y to what might have been expected, were much 

 easier to rear than those of Roylei, and the cocoons 

 obtained are far superior to those of Roylei, in size, 

 weight, and richness of silk. The cocoon of my new 

 liybrid has, like Roylei, an envelope, but there is no 

 space between this envelope and the true cocoon inside. 

 Therefore, this time, the crossing of two different 

 species (but, it must be added, two very closely allied 

 species) has produced a hj-brid very superior, at least 

 to one of the t5Ties, that of Roylei. The cocoons of 

 the hybrid Roylei-Pernyi seem to me larger and 

 heavier than any Pernyi cocoons I have as yet seen. 



The larva; of this new liybrid have been successfully 

 reared in France, in Germany, in Austria, and in the 

 United States of North America. The cocoons obtained 

 by Herr L. Huessman, one of my German coiTespond- 

 ents, are remarkable for their size and beauty. The 

 silk is silvery white. 



I have 17 cocoons of this hybrid species, which 

 number may be sufficient for its reproduction. But the 

 question arises, Will the moths obtained from these 

 cocoons be susceptible of reproduction ? 



In my report on Lepidoptera for the year 1879, I 

 stated, with respect to hybrids and degeneracy, that 

 hybrids had been obtained by the crossing of .lHaeii-i 

 Pern'ii and Attacus Yammn-ilai, but that, although the 

 moths (some of which may be seen in the Bethnal-green | 



Museum), are large and apparently perfect in every re- 

 spect, yet these hybrids could not be reproduced. It must 

 be stated that these two species differ esentially in one 

 particular point. Yama-Mai hybern.ates in the ovum 

 state, whilst Pernyi hybernates in the x»'pa state. The 

 hybrids hybernated in the pupa state. Roylei, as 

 Pernyi, hybernates in the irujm. state. 



In the November number, 18S1, of "The Entomo- 

 logist," Mr. W. F. Kirby, of the British Museum, wi-ote 

 an article having for its title :— ' ' Hermaphrodite- 

 hybrid Sphinyidm," in which, i-eferring to hybrids of 

 Smerinthus and populi, he says that hermaphroditism 

 is the usual' character of such hybrids. 



I extract the following passage from his article : 



" I was under the impression that hennaphroditism 

 was the usual character of these hybods ; and it has 

 suggested itself to my mind as a possibility, which I 

 have not, at present, sufficient data either to prove 

 or to disprove, that the sterility of hybrids in general 

 (still a somewhat obscure subject) may perhaps be 

 partly due to hybridism having a tendency to pro- 

 duce hermaphroditism. " 



Now will the moths of my new hybrid Roylei-Pernyi 

 (which I expect will emerge in May or June, 1882J, 

 have the same tendency to hermaphroditism as has 

 been observed with the hybrids obtained by the cross- 

 ing of Smerinthus populi with Sm. oeellatus ? I do not 

 think that such will be case with the moths of the 

 liybrid Roylei-Pernyi, on account of the close relation- 

 sliip of Roylei with Pernyi, but nothing certain can 

 be known till the moths have emerged. Here are the 

 few notes taken on the hybrid Roylei-Pernyi. Ova 

 commenced to hatch on the 12th of June ; these were 

 from the pairing which had taken place on the 21st 

 of May. Larvse, black with long white hairs. Second 

 stage commenced on the 21st of June. Larva, of a, 

 beautiful green ; turbercles orange-yellow ; head dark 

 brown. Third stage commenced on the 1st of July ; 

 4th stage on the 7th. Larva of same colour in those 

 stages ; tubercles on the back, violet-blue or mauve ; 

 tubercles on the sides, blue. Fifth stage commenced on 

 the IStli of July. Larva, with tubercles ou back and 

 sides, blue or violet-blue. First cocoon commenced 

 on the 10th of August. Want of time prevented me 

 from taking fuller and more accurate notes. 



Attaeui Atlus. — For the fii'st time, as stated before 

 I atteiinited the rearing of a small number of Atlas 

 larvjc in the open ah- on the Ailanthus tree, hut had 

 to remove the last two remaming larv.T! in September; 

 the others had all disappeared in consequence of the heavy 

 and incessant rains. These larva; were from eggs sent 

 to me by one of my German con-espondents. The 

 pairing of the moths had taken place ou the 17th of ' 

 July, and the eggs had commenced to hatch ou the 

 4tli of August. 



I had about 80 cocoons of another and larger race 

 of AtUix imported from the Province of Kumaou, but 

 only eight moths emerged at intervals from the 31st of 

 July to the 30th of September. Not only did the moths 

 emerge too late in the season, but tliere never was a 

 change of obtaining a pauing. In my report on Indian 

 silkworms, published in the Nov. number of the Bulletin 

 de hi. Hoeiete d' Aeclivwtiition, for the year 1881, complied 

 from the work of Mr. J. Geoghegan, I reproduce the lust 

 appi'ndix of Captain Thomas Button, to Mr. Geoghegan's 

 work, in which are given the names of aU the Indian 

 silk.vorms kuonm by him up to the year 1871. 



Of Attacus atlas, Captam Hutton says: — "It is common 

 at .5,500 feet at Mussoorie and m the Dehra Doiin ; it 

 is also found in some of the deep warm glens of the 

 outer hills. It is also common at Alinorali, where the 

 larva feeds almost exclusively upon tlie 'KQmorah' bush 

 or Berljeris Asiatica; whUe at jlnssoorie it will not touch 

 that plant, but feeds exclusivelv upon the large milky 

 leavet of Falconeria insiyniit. The worm is, perhaps, 

 more easily reared than any otlic/ of the wild Bombycida;." 



