WING WINDOWS. 669 



to be an exaggeration. This irritating power remains even in 

 those hairs which adhere to the pupa after it has buried itself 

 in the earth and shed its larval skin. 



, In its larval state it spins large webs for its protection, just 

 as our Little Ermine Moth does, and even fir-trees are so cut to 

 pieces by these larvte, that they seem to be nothing but bundles 

 of sticks and webs. 



The larvte of the group of Moths called Saturniid» also spin 

 webs, but, instead of doing harm, the webs are utilized — some 

 of the best silks being made from them. I need hardly mention 

 the familiar names of Eria, Arrindy, and Tussore silks, all of 

 which are made by insects of this group. 



On Plate XVI. Fig. 1 is given a figure of one of these ]Moths, 

 called Aitaciis Jorulla, a native of Orizaba, in ]\Iexico. As is 

 the case with most of its kind, it possesses .soft and rich, though 

 not brilliant hues, and the general impression caused by it is 

 that of a soft, downy, pinkish brown. Taking this as the ground 

 colour, we find at the base of the upper wings a well-defined 

 patch of which the centre is dun, surrounded first by a line of 

 white and tlien by a narrow boundary line of black. Through 

 the middle of the wing runs a waved white bar edged with 

 black. Then comes a faintly-defined and very irregular line, 

 the space between which and the edge of the wing is decidedly 

 pink, and towards the tip of the wing is a bold patch of dark 

 brown. The lower wings are coloured in much the same 

 manner, except that a row of dark brown marks takes the 

 place of the nari'ow waved line. The abdomen is pale brown, 

 and the thorax nearly white. 



One point has yet to be noticed, namely, the transparent 

 patch in the middle of each wing, the object of which no one 

 knows. The two young ladies who have been mentioned on 

 page 617 asked that question, which was really a sensible one, 

 and perhaps deserved a better answer than they got, i.e. that 

 they were windows through which the insect could see the 

 approach of a foe. But much allowance must be made for the 

 feelings of a scientific man interrupted in his work. 



A North Ameeican species of this group is given. Its 

 colours are much the same as those of the preceding insect, but 



