LEPIDOPTERA. 2S1 



and a male and female moth were produced from these twin co- 

 coons in July, the usual time for these insects to leave their win- 

 ter quarters. Drury called this kind of moth Promethea, a mis- 

 take probably for Prometheus*, the name of one of the Titans, 

 all of whom were fabled to be of gigantic size. The color of At- 

 tacus Promethea differs according to the sex. The male is of a 

 deep smoky brown color on the upper side, and the female light 

 reddish brown ; in both, the wings are crossed by a wavy whitish 

 line near the middle, and have a wide clay-colored border, which 

 is marked by a wavy reddish line ; near the tips of the fore-wings 

 there is an eye-like black spot within a bluish white crescent ; 

 near the middle of each of the wings of the female there is an an- 

 gular reddish white spot, edged with black ; these angular spots 

 are visible on the under-side of the wings of the male, but are 

 rarely seen on their upper side ; the hind-wings in both are 

 rounded and not tailed. These moths expand from three inches 

 and three quarters to four inches and a quarter. The female 

 deposits her eggs on the twigs of the trees, in little clusters of five 

 or six together, and these are hatched towards the end of July or 

 early in August. The caterpillars usually come to their full size 

 by the beginning of September, and then measure two inches or 

 more in length, when extended, and about half an inch in diame- 

 ter. The body of the caterpillar is very plump, and but very 

 little contracted on the back between the rings. It is of a clear 

 and pale bluish green color ; the head, the feet, and the tail are 

 yellow ; there are about eight warts on each of the rings ; the two 

 uppermost warts on the top of the second and of the third rings 

 are almost cylindrical, much longer than the rest, and of a rich 

 coral-red color ; there is a long yellow wart on the top of the 

 eleventh ring ; all the rest of the warts are very small, and of a 

 deep blue color. Before making its cocoon the caterpillar in- 

 stinctively fastens to the branch the leaf that is to serve for a 

 cover to its cocoon, so that it shall not fall off in the autumn, and 

 then proceeds to spin on the upper side of the leaf, bending over 

 the edges to form a hollow, within which its cocoon is concealed. 



* Mas was the brother of Prometheus, and this name, it will be recollected, has 

 been given to another of the Bombyces, an immensely large moth from China. 



36 



