THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 129 



add a foresail ; and 1 should not be at all surprised if some other one took 

 it into his head, to hoist a jib ahead of his other sails, so as to be still more 

 complete. But in the meantime let us go and see how yours is rigged out."^ 

 Our friend, who had received our raillery with a self-satisfied air, because he 

 believed that he should soon have his revenge, by the stupefaction into 

 which we should be thrown by the sight of his wonderful phenomenon, was 

 quite put out of countenance when, at the first glance that we threw upon 

 his insect, we recognized the male of our Polyphemus Moth, and invited 

 him to come and see five or six others just like it in our collection. He had 

 mistaken for wings the feathei-ed antenna) of that magnificent moth, which 

 are especially well developed in the male sex, and which he had not taken 

 the trouble to remark in the specimens in our cabinet. But far from wish- 

 ing to turn aside our j^oung naturalist from his observations, in consequence 

 of this unfortunate result of his first attempt, we made him faithfully prom- 

 ise to examine well all these little beings which are every day presenting 

 themselves before our eyes; assuring him that, although he would never 

 find insects with wings on their heads, he would nevertheless find other 

 wonderful things that would interest him- still more. 



We repeat the same advice to all our readers. Look ! observe ! exam- 

 ine ! and you will see wonders Avithout number unfold themselves before 

 your eyes. 



It is a rule, without exception, that no insect has moi-e than four true 

 wings. The wings may be split up as in the Plumes, of which the Grape- 

 vine Plume (Eep. 3, Fig. 27) is an example; or they may be furnished with 

 a membranous lobe as in the Eurojiean genus Lobophora ; but they never 

 are increased in number beyond four. 



The pi'incipal difficulty in the waj' of reeling the cocoon of Polyphe- 

 mus is the hard matter Avhieh binds it; but it is not an insurmountable one^ 

 and the cocoon could no doubt be improved by a proper process of contin- 

 ued selection. The silk, as already stated, is strong and lustrous. 



As with some of the other species already mentioned, two broods oi 

 this insect are frequently produced each year in this latitude, though it nor- 

 mally appears to be single-brooded in the more northern States. In the 

 South it is alwaj'S double-brooded, the first moths issuing about the middle 

 of February in Louisiana. If it is ever grown for silk the South will be the 

 most favorable part of the country, for it often abounds in New Orleans in 

 such numbers, on Sycamore, Elm, and live Oak — especially the latter — as to 

 be easily gathered by bushels. 



The parasites of Pol3q)hemus ai'C, the Mary Chalcis-fly (Fig. 39), the 

 Long-tailed Ophion (Fig. 37) and a Tachina-fly which I shall not now de- 

 scribe for reasons given in my 3rd Report (p. 150). It differs from that 

 which 1 have bred from Cecropia, principally in its gi"ay color being less 

 bluish, and in having smooth ej^es; and may be provisionally designated as 

 Tachina anonyma.* 



♦It belongs, apparently, to Macquart's genus Mascicera. I have bred precisely the same species 

 fl-om Citheronia regalis, and others that dilTer only in being smaller, from Prodenia autumnalis , an uu- 

 describedNoctuan, Cynthia cardui, Hcliothis anriiyera, Dalana ininistra, and Danais archipjJUS ; while 

 I have others from Spliinx: Carolina which differ only in having the apical joint of abdomen rufous. 

 The face appears quitegolden on the top and the second and sometimes the third abdominal joints iu- 

 ehne to rufous at sides. 



9 . 



