253 



Attacus Cynthia. Two males and one female emerged. 

 Three cocoons produced one large ichneumon apiece, and about 

 three others, small yellow and black ichneumons, Comtra sp. near 

 flaricans Spin, which came out in numbers about the same time 

 as the appearance of the moths. 



Callosamia Promethea. About three males and three females 

 appeared. One or two cocoons produced small yellow and black 

 ichneumons. 



There rejuain about 160 cocoons of Cynthia and Promethea. 



Lechmere Guppy, Jnr. 

 San Fernando, 

 2nd April, 1893. 



The above notes were concluded on the 2nd April and the 

 following additions give an account of my progress since that 

 date: On the 16th April, about 5 weeks and 4 days after 

 hatching, the larvje of Anther cw, Pernyi started spinning ; 

 between the 16th and 26th April the greater number of them 

 had spun cocoons. This operation genei^ally takes four days. The 

 cocoons seemed to be quite equal in every way, if not superior, to 

 those sent me, which were reared on the oak ; this opinion has 

 since been confirmed by Mr. Thomas Wardle, President of the 

 Silk Association of Great Britain and Ireland who writes as 

 follows : — "They seem to be very healthy cocoons and if you can 

 " grow them as good as these you send I should think you might 

 " introduce sericulture in Trinidad, but I was not aware they 

 " would feed on Terminalia cataqypa. It is a Chinese oak feeding 

 worm." 



" I enclose a cocoon of the i->ernyi from China on which is a 

 " portion of the oak leaf. The cocoons reel very well. Yours 

 " seem much finer and better and the silk much whiter than the 

 " Chinese •pernyi— (t\iQ above was dated 17th July.) In reply to 

 my letter of the 8th August Mr. Wardle writes : " The moths 

 " have just emerged (last week) from the cocoons you kindly 

 " sent, three of them are quite perfect and beautiful, 

 " the other three were deformed. It is an interesting experi- 

 " ment to have fed them on Terminalia catappa successfully. 

 " There is an enormous quantity of this silk used in France now, 

 " coming into Lyons both from China and from India, the 

 " Indian kind being from the Mylitta, the Chinese from Pernyi. 

 " Could you set up a little industry of Pernyi gut for fishing 

 "lines'?" An interesting fact Mr. Wardle writes is that "a 

 " Madagascar friend has been reeling spider silk direct from the 

 " abdomen of the spiders very successfully." Mr. Alfred Wailly 

 writes in a letter to nic dated 21th July : "Yesterday or da^y 

 before one male moth pernyi emerged — the other which is a 



