LONDON INSECTS 83 



interesting. It is closely allied to some naturalists 

 class it with a family which is of more apparent value 

 to man than all other families of Moths and Butterflies 

 together. It is a silk-spinner, and, in common with 

 many of the family most notably the Silkworm Moth 

 the female is practically wingless. It is curious, but 

 not of any great importance to any of us, to know that 

 the female of the Vapourer Moth seldom goes far from 

 the web in which it lay as a chrysalis, and often never 

 even strays outside it. But the same characteristic in 

 the Silkworm is of very great importance. For if the 

 female Silkworm Moth had perfect wings, and were 

 free, as other ladies of the kind are, to come and go and 

 mate and lay her eggs wherever fancy led her, instead 

 of living and dying content with her own mulberry- 

 tree, silk cultivation on any large scale would be im- 

 possible. A silk dress would be as rare a treasure as 

 Lady Brassey's feather cloak, and the thousands noAv 

 employed in the various silk industries would have to 

 look elsewhere for a livelihood. 



They are agreeable Moths, too, because they do not 

 waste too long in the chrysalis state often not more 

 than three weeks ; and a boy may bring home a Cater- 

 pillar with some hope of really seeing it fly before he 

 has forgotten its existence. 



Thus much of the attractions of the Yapourer all of 

 us can see for ourselves by simply keeping our eyes 

 open as we walk under the trees. There is one more 

 point of special interest which most of us must be 

 content to take on trust, but it should be mentioned, if 



