BOMBYCID^. 



291 



Fiar. 228. 



the oak, and can be raised in the open air, its cultivation has 

 gained much attention in Europe. A. Aurota Beauv. is com- 

 mon in Central and South America. In Brazil it could be 

 raised with success for home use, but is too delicate for a 

 northern climate. 



Telea Poli/phemus (PL G, male ; PL 7, female) is brown, Avith 

 large transparent eye-like spots in the centre of the wings 

 The thread of which the cocoon is 

 spun is continuous, and is readily 

 unwound. It is coarser than tliat 

 of the Bombyx mori, but has a rich 

 gloss and can be used very exten- 

 sively in commerce. Its larva 

 (Fig. 227), which feeds on the 

 oak, is thick, fleshj'^, striped obliquely with white on the sides, 

 with angulated segments, on which are tubercles giving rise 

 to a few short hairs. The pupa (Fig. 228) is very thick, and 

 the cocoon (Fig. 229) is regularl}^ oval cylindrical. 



Mr. L. Trouvelot gives an account in the American Natural- 

 ist (vol. i) of this silk-worm, which is our most hardy native 

 worm. So successful was he in rearing them that in a single 

 season "not less than a million could be seen feeding in the 

 open air upon bushes 

 covered with a net." 

 The moths leave the co- 

 coons late in May, ap- 

 pearing until the middle 

 of June. They then lay 

 tlieir eggs, generally 

 singly, on the under side Fig. 229. 



of the leaves. In ten or twelve days the caterpillars hatch ; the 

 operation usually takes place early in the day. The worm 

 moults five times, the first four moultings occurring at intervals 

 of ten days, Avhile about twenty days elapse between the fourth 

 and fifth moults, this process usually occurring late in the after- 

 noon. It makes its cocoon late in September, and in six or 

 eight days after beginning its cocoon assumes the pupa state, 

 and in this condition passes the winter. 



The genus Actias is at once known by the hind wings be- 



