296 



LEPIDOPTERA. 



lose the protecting shelter of the boughs. For rain they care 

 nothing, but appear to be able to distinguish between the com- 

 ing of a heavy shower, and the more pitiless pelting of the hail." 

 Attacus and its allies (Attaci) form the central and most 

 typical group of the famil3\ They are among the largest of 

 insects. The genus Attacus is found in China, the East Indies 

 and the South Sea Islands, and in Brazil. Its immense size, 

 falcate wings, with the large triangular transparent spot in the 

 centre, readily distinguish it. A. Atlas Linn., from China, 

 expands from seven to nine inches. Samia is a smaller genus 

 :iucl with a partially transparent lunate spot in the middle of 

 the wings. Sam/a Cynthia Linn, has been introduced from 

 China and is a hardy worm, quite easily raised, and the silk is 



Fig. 2-27. 



of a good quality. Mr. W. V. Andrews urges, in the American 

 Naturalist (vol. ii, p. 311), the cultivation of the Cynthia silk- 

 worm in this country, as it is double-brooded, our native spe- 

 cies bearing but a single crop of worms. It feeds on the ail- 

 anthus, and can be reared in the open air. Among many allied 

 forms, generally referred to the genus Attacus but which still 

 need revision, are the A. Mj/Iitfa (Tussah worm), from China 

 and India ; A. Pcrnyi^ from Manchouria, which feeds on the oak, 

 and which has been raised in France, and tlie Japanese Anthercea 

 Tama-mai, all of which produce silk, though less reared in 

 Europe than the Cynthia worm. The silk of the Yama-mai 

 .iioth approaches nearest that of B. mori, and as it feeds on 



