February 1S93.] 



PSYCHE. 



387 



emerging as moths. The nests, accord- 

 ing to the same authority, are collected 

 by the blacks, and in times of want are 

 added to the stores of the native larder. 



The next contribution to the litera- 

 ture of the subject is the masterly 

 article by Lord Walsingham published 

 in the Transactions of the Linnean 

 Society for the year 1SS5, founded 

 largely upon material communicated to 

 the writer by Col. J. H. Bowker. 

 This article is profusely illustrated, and 

 Walsingham describes and figures two 

 new species of the genus Anaphe, 

 A. infra eta 'and A. carter i. Accord- 

 ing to information given Lord Walsing- 

 ham by Col. Bowker, the natives of 

 South Africa use the silk of the cocoon- 

 hags in cases of injury very much as 

 oiled silk is used by surgeons in more 

 civilized lands. Lord Walsingham 

 followed his paper upon the genus 

 Anaphe by a paper published in the 

 Transactions of the Linnean Societv for 

 1S87 upon Coenodomus Hockingii, 

 Wis., a curious pyralid moth found in 

 the Punjab, which has larval habits 

 somewhat closely allied to those of the 

 African genera Anaphe and Hvpsoides. 

 This paper is accompanied by a most 

 excellent plate, giving full details. 



In 1SS8 Mr. H. Druce described in the 

 Proceedings of the Zoological society of 

 London a new species of Anaphe from 

 Gambia, which he names after its dis- 

 coverer, A. Moloney i. Mr. Druce says 

 that the cocoon of this species, which 

 had been presented to him by Capt. 

 Moloney, was '"almost the shape of a 

 large pear, about five inches long, and 



was found hanging from the branch of a 

 tree by a fine silken thread." He also 

 notes the fact that he had recently re- 

 ceived from Mr. A. Higgins a specimen 

 of the cocoon of A. infracta, Wis., ob- 

 tained at -Tie Ife, about fifty miles in- 

 land from Lagos, where they are very 

 common, hanging from trees." He adds 

 ''The natives eat the larvae, which are 

 of a reddish brown color ; they fry them 

 in palm-oil. Mr. Higgins informs me 

 that they are of a sweetish taste when 

 cooked. They also make use of the 

 silk, taking it from the cocoons, wash- 

 ing it, and forming it into hanks, which 

 the\- sell in the market-places ; it is also 

 made into rough cloths by the women." 

 The cocoon given to Mr. Druce by 

 Capt. Moloney yielded Mr. Druce about 

 sixty moths, and I am personally in- 

 debted to him for a fine suite of this 

 species now in my collection. Thus far 

 I have not received any specimens of 

 Anaphe infracta from any of those 

 persons, who have collected for me upon 

 the West African coast south of Cape 

 Lopez, but I have received several coc- 

 oons of A. Moloney/', from one of 

 which, represented in the plate, about 

 eighty moths had emerged previous to 

 shipment. The last cocoon sent me 

 was delayed in transit, and upon open- 

 ing the tin hox containing it, I found 

 the remains of a large number of moths 

 which had emerged and perished upon 

 the journey. 



The cocoons of A. Moloneyi which T 

 have received have not been suspended 

 by a thread of silk, but are firmly fixed 

 amonofthe outer twisrs of branches. The 



