Saturniidae 
upon the wings. Both species occur in Arizona, where they 
are not, however, nearly as common as they are in Mexico. 
Genus SAMIA Hubner 
In this genus, composed of quite large moths, characterized, 
as are the moths of the two preceding and the next succeeding 
genera, by having the discal cells open, we find that the spots 
on the middle of the wings are opaque, not hyaline, as in the 
genus Rothschildia ; and, furthermore, the fore wings are more 
rounded and less produced than in that genus. 
(i) Samia cecropia Linnaeus, Plate VIII, Fig. i, $ ; Plate 
I, Fig. 8, larva. (The Cecropia Moth.) 
This splendid moth, which is very common, is one of a small 
number of our native silk-moths, which attract more or less 
Fig 37.—Cocoon of Samia cecropia. (After Riley.) 
popular attention, and the spring of the year in our museums is 
always regarded as a period in which a certain portion of the 
time of the entomological staff will be consumed in replying to 
the letters of persons who, having for once opened their eyes to 
the wonders of the insect world, have sent in old matchboxes 
through the mails specimens of this insect, generally adding the 
information that the species is probably “new to science ” or 
“excessively rare,” they having for the first time in their lives 
noticed the moth. 
The larva feeds upon a great variety of deciduous trees and 
shrubs, though manifesting a predilection for the Rosacece, 
willows, maples, and the lilac. The cocoon is a familiar object. 
The insect is found over the whole Atlantic seaboard, and ranges 
westward to the eastern margin of the great plains. 
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