27 



nacli vorn) gerichteteu, weniger stark verdickten 

 Scliulterfortsätzen, breiterem Hinterleil) und dunklerer 

 Farbe der Oberseite. Ein schmaler Seitensaum des 

 ProDotunis, zwei qiierovalo Flecken der Cicatrices 

 und die Adern der Halbdeckcn honiggelb. Färbung 

 der Unterseite äiiulicii der bei /■.'. hiilhiiini. doch 

 die Randflecken des Bauches kleiner, kreisrund, 

 kaum grösser als die F.ecke auf den Stigmen. 

 Länge 2."{, Schulterbr. l?-/!) mm. Surinam. 



Edessa gnu n. spec. Ç . Von der Grösse und un- 

 tjetähreii Gestalt der K. sc.nkns Fab. und K. rlci-hi 

 Walk., durch die au der Spitze leicht kugelförmig 

 verdickten und nach hinten gebogenen Ecken der 

 Schulterfortsätze einen Übergang machend zu der 

 Verwandtschaft der E.sntiiiiitd Dali. Oben schmutzig 

 olivengelblich, die knollenförmige Schulterverdickung 

 schwarz. Corium pjchbraun, basalwärts heller. Die 

 gelben Flecke des schwarzen Connexivs nehmen nur 

 das mittlere Drittel der Segmeutlänge ein. Unterseite, 

 Beine, Fühler rostgelblieh, der Bauchrand heller, 

 mit schwarzen RandÜecken. Länge 22'/^, Schulter- 

 breite 15 mm. Amazonas. 



Edessa stillativentris u. spec. Ç . Ähnlich der 

 /•;. i-iiiiiiin iihis lu. Doch die Schulterfortsätze 

 kürzer, die äusserste Spitze leicht pechbraun ange- 

 laufen, die Äste des Sternalkiels nach vorn nur sehr 

 wenig divergent. Oben trübe hellgrünlich, die Punk- 

 tierung ist auf dem Kopf pechschwarz, sonst farblos ; 

 die Unterseite ist wie bei E. romiiientnn gefärbt. 

 Länge 2OV2, Schulterbr. 14'/^ mm. Venezuela. 



Sibaria andicola u spec. Von der ähnlichen -S 



o 



nnniihi Stal, durch die dunklere, (fast schwarze) 

 Färbung der Oberseite, den fehlenden weissen Punkt- 

 fleck des Coriums, die geringe Ausdehnung der 

 schwarzen Farbe am 5. FOhlerglied (höchstens '/'s) 

 und die abweichende Form des Endracdes der cj". 

 Genitalplatte unterschieden. Letztere in der Mitte 

 mit etwa halbkreisförmigem Ausschnitt: die Seiten- 

 lappen mit gerade gestutztem Endrand (ohne Zahn- 

 ecken.) Länge 9V>, Schulterbr. 7'/2 mm. Ecuador. 



Silkworms of Assam. 



The siiKi tree (Madiilns ixloraiiaainut) furnishes 

 its favourite food, but in Lower Assam it is exten- 

 sively bred on the smiln iTilmnHimi ii/onojjr/dlo). The 

 leaves of certain other forest trees — the diiihlatl 

 (Til. iiliiiiriij. the iKiliilimidit (('inn. iili/nsifo/iiiin) , 

 and the litnmri/i (Siiiufihicos (/riindi/loriij — can be 

 eaten by the worm in its maturer stages if the 



supply of its staple food begins to fail; but the 

 •<nin and the sndin are the only trees upon which 

 the woirm yielding the ordinary n/ni/a silk (as dis- 

 tinguished from ilnnniMi and )itc:niil,iiri) can be 

 permanently reared. The snm-hà worm is considered 

 to yield the most delicate silk, and ^(niln trees on 

 the edges of snm plantations are generally left un- 

 touched, though small plantations of snnln only may 

 occasionally be met with. 



Five successive broods of the Mnija worm are 

 obtained, but it is only in a few parts of the Assam 

 valley that this regular succession of broods is 

 maintained. The worm is said to degenerate if bred 

 all the year round in Upper Assam, an the rearing 

 is discontinued in the summer, another reason for 

 doing so being that the -/'/// forests are at that 

 time flooded by the rains, therefore the breeders of 

 Upper Assam generally go down to Kamriip or 

 Nowgong to buy breeding cocoons at the beginning 

 of the cold season. The period from hatching to 

 maturity varies from twenty-six days in summer to 

 forty days in winter. The Mufin cocoon is in size 

 about P/ji iuch long by 1 inch in diameter. In 

 colour it is a golden yellow, but there are usually 

 a number of dark cocoons in every brood. The silk 

 of the cocoon is reeled, but no part of it is rejected 

 as useless; the floss plucked off before reeling, the 

 silk of the shell, and that of the open cocoons, are 

 spun by hand into a coarser thread, which is mixed 

 with Kii thread, or is woven by itself into warm and 

 durable fabrics. 



There are two varieties of the Mnija assumed 

 by it when the worm is fed on the rkainpa (or more 

 properly rliapn) açd the nii'\unl,iiri. or mlnhnri 

 tTcfrniillnro poh/antl/a). ( 'I/an/pa silk seems to be 

 quite forgotten now. It is described as a very fine 

 white silk, which used to be worn only by the 

 Ahom Kings and their nobles. Mr-.anknri silk is 

 still to be procured, but with great difficulty. In the 

 last years, there does not seem to have been a single 

 piece obtainable in Jorhât. One of the reasons alle- 

 ged for this falling off is that the new rules rest- 

 ricting clearances of the forests are unfavourable to 

 the growth of the un-.nnl.nri tree. This tree springs 

 up spontaneously in abandoned clearances, and it is 

 in this early shrublike stage that it is fit for the 

 worms to feed on. In its second year, the worms 

 fed on it give coarser silk; in the third year, the 

 silk is hardly distinguishable from the common inuiia. 

 Thus the mature tree is quit out of the question, 



