THE BOMBYCINA, WJ 



animals suffer from the irritation of the hairs if they get into 

 the eyes or up the nostrils. 



The pretty caterpillars of the Vapourer moths — Orgyia antiqua 

 — with their tufts of variously-coloured hairs and harlequin look, 

 are very common in the summer time on all sorts of trees and 

 shrubs, for there are many broods of them during the year. The 

 larvae make a cocoon, but as they only have a very small quantity 

 of silk, they mix their long and pretty hairs with it and sometimes 

 unite some leaves together to cover all. 



The moth flies two or three weeks after the metamorphosis 

 of the caterpillar into the chrysalis. The male has a thin body, 

 and pectinated antennae, and its wings are of a brown fawn colour, 

 with some darkish rays, and a small white spot ; but the female 

 is a brown insect, having very rudimentary and stumpy wings. 

 She moves but with difficulty, for her legs are hardly strong 

 enough for the distended body. Certainly, she is no beauty, yet 

 she has abundance of admirers, and is always at home. In the 

 engraving one of these wingless creatures is to be seen on the 

 tree laying its eggs, and many of the well-known hairy cater- 

 pillars are on the leaves. 



The pupa of the female is black, and has many tufts of hair 

 upon it, and the perfect insect escapes through the imperfect 

 cocoon very easily. She then commences to lay the eggs upon 

 the silky outside, and she never leaves them. The eggs are 

 greenish at first, and soon become white, with a faint green 

 spot on the top. They are tub-shaped, and may number 200 

 or more. 



There is another moth belonging to this group of Bombycina, 

 whose metamorphoses are as curious as those of the kind just 

 mentioned ; indeed, there are two genera of a family called the 

 Psychidcs, the females of which are not only without wings, but 

 have neither legs nor antennae. In fact, the female moth is a 

 helpless o.^^ bag, which never quits the case or covering in 

 which it was bred. It is a curious notion to call these moths 

 by the name of Psyche, but really the males are very pretty. 

 They are small ; their bodies are thin, and covered with long 

 silken hairs ; their wings are almost transparent, for they only 

 have a few grey, brown, and black scales upon them ; and they 



