Saturniidse 



roses, and the beech. Other observers have reported the larva 

 as found upon a great variety of other trees. The caterpillar, 



Fig. 41. Larva of Telea polyphemus. (After Riley.) 



which is of a beautiful shade of green, is ornamented on the 

 sides by raised lines of silvery white, and is altogether a beauti- 

 ful object, so far as coloration is concerned. The cocoon is in 

 form like that of A ctias luna, but is much more dense, and, after 

 it has been spun up, is injected by the larva with a fluid, which 

 appears to precipitate a white chalky matter through the fibers 

 after it has dried. Efforts to reel the silk have hitherto amounted 

 to but little. The insect is double-brooded in the southern States. 



In Pennsylvania and north- 

 ward it is single-brooded. 

 The moth ranges across 

 the entire continent and 

 into Mexico in the South. 

 We have given in Figure 5 

 a representation of the 

 Fig. 42. Cocoon of Tcka polyphemus. pupa, in Figure io a cut 

 (After Riley.) Q f the antenna g rea tly en- 



larged, and in Figures 41 and 42 are shown the larva and the 

 cocoon. The latter, as is illustrated in the cut, is spun among 

 leaves, and falls in the autumn to the ground. A number of 

 aberrant forms and local races have been described, and there is 

 considerable variety in the depth of the ground-color of the wings 



88 



