SAMIA CYNTHIA 235 



If reversed after the iDner cocoon was begun, some 

 caterpillars bit a hole in the solid bottom end, and 

 made a loose top end of it, closing the other end. Re- 

 versed still later, some made the lower end loose, and 

 left the upper one loose also ; others merely lay with 

 their heads to the solid end, now the upper one, and 

 could never emerge without turning around in the 

 cocoon. 



Like promethea, cynthia larvae like to draw a leaf 

 around the sides of the cocoon, covering its upper sur- 

 face, as well as the stem, with silk. 



In the cocoon the pupa pushes the larva- skin down 

 its body until it lies in a little wad at the bottom. 



The pupa is stout and brown, and the antennae- 

 covers are so clearly marked that the male and female 

 can be distinguished at a glance, the male having the 

 broader antennae. The antennae are shaped like fea- 

 thers in all these attacine moths, and are very beautiful. 



The moths emerged the following spring. They 

 measure from four and a half to nearly six inches from 

 tip to tip, and are olive-green, with fine black scales, as 

 if peppered. The broad band across the wings is of 

 pinkish lilac, with an edge of black and white in 

 places. The shorter bands are white, sometimes a 

 little lilac. The crescents are partly yellow, partly 

 transparent. Near the point of the fore wing is an 

 eye-spot of black in a lilac area. The abdomen has 

 white tufts. 



These moths do not feed, their maxillae, or tongues, 

 being either wanting or so little developed as to be 

 useless. This is ti-ue of all the attacine moths we have 

 reared, probably of all. They fly at night. 



