— 20 



I'lif. or mulberry silkworm. — Of this there are 

 two species cultivated in Assam ; the univoltiue 

 Boii/l/i/.r te.vtor. called hor jkiIii. or large worm, and 

 the multivoltine honi jhiIii. or small worm, Ilon/h/fs 

 crrif'si. Both Species are reared iudoors on the le- 

 aves of the mulberry (Moiiik hitlini). 



All((ciis ricini. — Eri worm, or Attanis riciui. 

 This is reared principally on the castor-oil plant 

 (Ririinis i-ininininis) . called eri in Assamese, but it 

 feeds also on the h'r.srr/i ^If/irntjifii/i/.r frt/i/fii/s/. 

 and there are several other trees, as yHlaiichd (■la- 

 trophd (:urc(i!<J, the [pinuri fdiiifliiia nrhorca, and 

 even it is said, the common hdijii or hn- tree fZi\- 

 plnis jujuh(i), which the worm can thrive on iu its 

 later stages, if other food is not procurable in suili- 

 cient quantity. The Eri worm is multivoltine, and 

 is reared entirely indoors, and as many as eight 

 broods can be obtained in twelve months. Large 

 numbers of worms are lost by disease during these 

 indoor rearings, which is not to be wondered at, 

 as the excreta anJ even the dead worms are not re- 

 moved. The Eli worm is cultivated, to a greater 

 or less extent, in every district of the province of 

 Assam. 



The number of moultings of the Eri worm is 

 four. The caterpillar is first about a quarter of 

 an inch loug, and appears nearly black. The colour 

 is, perhaps, more exactly described as a blackish-yel- 

 low. As it increases in size, it becomes of an orange 

 colour, with six black spots on each of the twelve 

 rings which form its body. The head, claws, and 

 holders are black; after the second moulting, they 

 change to an orange colour; that of the body gra- 

 dually becomes lighter, in some approaching to white, 

 in others to green, and the black spots gradually 

 become the colour of the body. After the fourth 

 or last moulting, the colour is a dirty white, or a 

 dark green. On attaining its full size, the worm 

 is about 3V'.! inches long. According to one series 

 of observations, it would appear that in the hot 

 months, the first change of skin occurs three days 

 after hatching, and the rest follow at intervals of 

 three days, while the worm begins to spin on the 

 fourth day after the final change, or the fifteenth 

 day after hatching. In the cooler mouths, the period 

 between each moulting is four or five days, making 

 twenty to twenty-five days between hatching and 

 beginning to spiu; and in the winter season, the 

 worm lives a whole month, or even longer. 



The Mmjii worm or Aiitlirrnca {/.ssm/taca (A. 



ii.s.'ifn//('itsi.s). — The scientific name of the M/ii/d 

 silkworm deuotes its peculiar connection with Assam, 

 and in fact it is found in no other part of India 

 except Dehra Doon, where it occurs sparingly. Its 

 Assamese name, ii/ii(/((, is said to be derived from 

 the amber colour of the silk, and is frequently used 

 to denote silk in general, so that Eri inuga means 

 eri silk, Knthiiri iinii/fi tusser silk, and so on; the 

 genuine ii/iu/a being distinguished by the title of 

 Soii/j)'i/i(i iHitjiii. or silk yielded by the worm that 

 feeds on the sum leaf. It is a multivoltine worm, 

 and is commonly said to be semi-domesticated, be- 

 cause it is reared upon trees in the open air ; but 

 in fact it. is as much domesticated as any other 

 species, being hactched indoors, while during its 

 life on the tree it is entirely dependent on the cul- 

 j tivator for protection from its numerous enemies. 



(to be continued.) 



Mitteilungen des entomologischen Vereins für 

 Hamburg-Altona 1899-1904 



Die im Jahr 1898 von nur wenigen Sammlern 

 : gegründete Vereinigung zeigt, wenn man ihren Be- 

 richt durchgeht, ein reges entomologiscbes Leben. 

 Den Hauptinhalt der Mitteilungen bildet ein Ver- 

 ! zeichnis der Schmetterlinge der Umgegend Hamburg- 

 A'tonas aus der Feder von 0. Laplace, dem Vor- 

 Î sitzenden. Es sind darin die Macro-Lepidopteren sorg- 

 fältig behandelt, ihr Fuudort und Zeit des Vorkommens 

 notiert und wird die Arbeit speziell den Sammlern 

 Hamburg-Altonas ein wertvoller liatgeber sein. 



Briefkasten der Redaktion 



Herrn W. N. in Z. Versandt kann erst mit 

 nächster Nummer erfolgen; die anderen Listen 

 waren zuerst angemeldet. 



Herrn A. G. in B. Komme später auf Ihre Karte 

 zurück, erwarte erst noch weitere Sendungen und 

 AnweisMug. Vorläufig danke für Ihre Bereitwilligkeit. 



Bibiiotiiek der Societas entomologica. 



Von Herrn Paul Born ging als Geschenk ein : 

 Über einige Formen des Carabus violaceus L. 



Carabus morbiliosus und seine Formen 

 von Paul Born. 



Vom entomolog. Ver. Hamburg-Altona : 



Mitteilungen des Fntomologischen Vereins für 

 Hamburg-Altona 1899—1904. 



Der Empfang wird dankend bestätigt 



^ M. Riihl. 



Neu eingelaufene Preislisten 



Arnold Voelschow in Schwerin : Preisliste Nr. 42 

 über lebendes Zuchtmaterial. Eier, Raupen und 

 Puppen europäischer und exotischer Lepidopteren. 

 Eier von Stabheuschrecken. Terrarien-Tiere, 



