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AN INTRODUCTION TO ENTOMOLOGY 



(Morus alba), of which there are several varieties, and the black 

 mulberry {Morus nigra) ; the former is the better. The leaves of 



osage orange (Madura 

 JO aurantiaca) have also 



^,5?^^~P=^* been used as silk-worm 

 '^'^^ -^ •^ food to a considerable 

 extent. In case silk- 

 worms hatch in the 

 spring before either 

 mulberry or osage- 

 orange leaves can be 

 obtained, they may be 

 quite successfully fed, 

 for a few days, upon 

 lettuce-leaves. 



The newly-hatched 

 larva is black or dark- 

 gray, and is covered 

 with long stiff hairs, 

 which springfrom pale- 

 colored tubercles. The 

 hairs and tubercles are 

 not noticeable after 

 the first molt, and the 

 worm becomes lighter 

 and lighter, until in 

 the last larval period 

 it is of a cream-white 

 color. There is a 

 prominent tubercle on 

 the back of the eighth 

 abdominal segment, 

 resembling those 

 borne by certain lar- 

 vae of the Sphingidffi. 



Fig. 932. 



2dA 



-Wings of Bombyx mori. 



There are many special treatises on this insect, some of which 

 should be consulted by any one intending to raise silk-worms. 



Family LASIOCAMPID^ 



The Lasiocampids 



The best-known representatives of this family are the tent-cater- 

 pillars and the lappet-caterpillars. The adults are stout-bodied, hairy 

 moths of medium size. The antennae are pectinated in both sexes, 

 and from one-fourth to one-half as long as the front wings; the teeth 

 of the antennae of the male are usually much longer than those of the 

 female. The ocelli and the maxilla; are wanting ; and the palpi are us- 

 ually short and woolly. But the most distinct characteristic is found 



