Zoological Society. 291 
Saturnides*, characterized thus: “ Larvee obesz arboricole, segmen- 
tis prominulis, modo tuberculis piligeris, modo spinis verticillatis vel 
pennatis instructze. Folliculum tenax. Alze patulze late seepius macula 
ocellari vel diaphana ornatze : lingua nulla.’’ The tribe comprises the 
single genus Saturnia of Schranck and Ochsenheimer (détacus, Ger- 
mar), with the four European species Pyri, Spini, Carpini, and Ce- 
cigena as its types. The characters given by Boisduval are suffi- 
ciently precise, but those obtained from the peculiar structure of the 
autennee and of the veins of the wings, which Boisduval has not no- 
ticed, are far more distinctive. M. Boisduval’s next tribe, Lndromé- 
des, is a very artificial one, consisting of the two genera 4glaia and Hx- 
dromis, which possess but littlein common: Aglaia Tau, in fact, pos- 
sesses the broad, flat, pennate, male antennze of Saturnia, with which 
it also agrees in each joint emitting four branches, two at the base and 
two at the apex, the latter pair being shorter and more slender than the 
former ; moreover, each branch of the former pair has its fore-margin 
fringed with very delicate hairs, directed of course to the tip of the 
antennee, and its apex is furnished with two stronger bristles, also ex- 
tended in the same direction, and each of the latter pair of branches 
has its hinder margin similarly fringed, the hairs of course being di- 
rected towards the base of the antennz, and nearly meeting the op- 
posite row of hairs supplied by the basal branches of each joint. This 
very peculiar structure, also possessed by the giant Saturnie (alone, 
as I believe), has not been previously noticed by any writer with whose 
works I am acquainted, and would most probably afford physiological 
peculiarities of much interest. The veins of the wings of Aglaia are 
also disposed on the same general plan as in the Saturnia, namely 
the apical portion of the fore-wing is traversed by six branches, three 
arising from the great median vein and three from the post-costal 
vein, the two hindermost of the latter uniting together near the 
middle of the wing: there is however this difference between the 
_ wings of Aglaia and Saturnia; namely, that whereas in Saturnia the 
first branch of the post-costal vein is very minute, consisting of a 
scarcely visible, almost transverse veinlet, occurring halfway between 
the tip of the costal vein and the extremity of the wing, in dglaia 
this first branch of the post-costal vein is longer than all the rest, 
arising at about one-third of the length of the wing from the base. 
Thus Aglaia and Saturnia agree in possessing a simple costal vein, a 
post-costal vein with five branches, a median vein with three branches, 
and a simple anal vein. We also find that, like Saturnia, all the wings 
in Aglaia are marked in the middle with an eye-shaped spot. Bois- 
duval however appears to have considered that the transformations 
of Aglaia were the chief grounds for separating it from the Satur- 
nides: he describes the larvee of 4. Tau as “ rugulose, per juventu- 
tem spinigerze; adultz mutice. Folliculum sub-nullum. Puppa 
muscis vel foliis demortuis obtectat.”’ 
From the preceding considerations I am induced to regard Aglaia 
as belonging to the same subsection or tribe as Saturnia, considering 
the differences of metamorphosis existing between them as more than 
* Op. cit. p. 73. + Op. cit. supr. p. 74. 
19* 
