SARCOPHAGA SATURNIA. 



607 



readily increased by cuttings rooted in sand under a 

 hand-^lass in heat. 



SARCOPHAGA (Meigen). A genus of dip- 

 terous insects, belonging to the family Muscidcc, having 

 for its type the blowfly (Musca caniaria'), which see 

 for an account of its habits. 



SARGUS (Fabricius). A genus of dipterous in- 

 sects, belonging to the family StratiomidcE, having the 

 body elongated and depressed, the scutellum not 

 spined ; the head not produced into a nose in front. 

 The species of this genus are very handsome flies, 

 generally found during the summer months basking 

 upon the leaves of various plants, and walking about 

 slowly with the wings somewhat expanded ; their 

 flight is also slow, except during the hottest sunshine ; 

 at other times they are quite lazy. They are adorued 

 with very brilliant metallic tints, especially green 

 and gold. The larva of Sargtis licaiimurii, has been 

 observed both by Reaumur and Lyonnet ; it is found 

 in cow-dung, and is of an oval-oblong form, attenuated 

 in front, and destitute of legs. It passes to the pupa 

 state without shedding its larva skin. There are nine 

 British species af this handsome genus (descriptions 

 of eight of which have been published by Mr. J. 

 Duncan in Jardine's Magazine of Zoology and Botany, 

 vol. i.), the type being the Mmca cupraria of Liri- 

 nasus. Another species is the Musca pol/fa, Linn., 

 which, with several others, constitutes a distinct sec- 

 tion, which Mr. Duncan has named Chloromyia, but 

 which had been previously named Chrysomyia by 

 Macquart. 



SARRACENICvE. A natural order of plants con- 

 taining only one herbaceous genus, whence the title 

 is derived. There are four species of Sarraccnia al- 

 ready described, and remarkable for the singular form 

 of their leaves, which are tabular and hold water, some 

 of which have lids, which are said to shrink in dry 

 weather. They are all natives of the North Ame- 

 rican swamps. In our collections they are grown in 

 pots half filled with turfy peat, and having a coat of 

 water-moss above : the pots are set in pans of water, 

 and succeed best in frames kept in a shady place. 

 The flowers are polyandrous. 



SARROTRIUM(Illiger;ORTHOcERAs,Latreille). 

 A curious little genus of beetles (Coleoptera), belong- 

 ing to the family Tencbrionidee, having the antennae 

 thickened, and forming a spindle-shaped mass covered 

 with rigid hairs, the last joint being much narrower 

 than the preceding ; the body narrow and depressed ; 

 thorax subquadrate. There is a single species 

 (Hispa mutica, Linnaeus), of small size and black 

 colour, found in sand-pits. 



SATUREJA (Linnseus). A genus of herbs and 

 under-shrubs, commonly called savory, and used in 

 cookery as a seasoning, particularly the summer 

 savory, which is an annual. The species are mostly 

 natives of Europe, and belong to Labiates. 



SATURNIA (Schrank). A genus of large lepi- 

 dopterous insects, belonging to the section Nocturna, 

 and family Bombycidce, and nearly corresponding 

 with the Linna3an section ofPhalama, named Attacus 

 (see PHAL^ENA), having the wings extended horizon- 

 tally, consisting for the most part of exotic species 

 of very large size, and handsomely marked in their 

 colours ; the wings often being ornamented with a 

 large glass or talc-like spot in the centre ; such is the 

 case with the immense atlas moth of China (Saturnia 

 atlas], the S. cecropia from America and the &. lima 

 of America (forming the subgenus Actias of Leach, 



Zoological Miscellany), in which the hind wings are 

 elongated into a pair of tails. 



Another species is the Saturnia promctliea, whose 

 history we have detailed in the article CATERPILLAR, 

 and of which, in the winged state, a figure is given in 

 the article MOTH (p. 289, a?ttc). This species is 

 destitute of the talc-like spot. From time immemo- 

 rial the Bombyx mylitta of Fabricius, and the Pha- 

 Iccna cynthia of Drury (both belonging to this genus), 

 have been employed in the manufacture of silk (see 

 the article" SILKWORM). M. Latreille, who has de- 

 voted very [considerable attention to this enquirj', 

 states from a Chinese manuscript communicated to 

 him by M. Hugard, that the caterpillars of these two 

 species have been long know'n as the " vers a soie 

 sanvages de la Chine," or wild Chinese silkworms. 

 He also supposes that a portion of the silk which 

 was employed by the ancients was procured by means 

 of their commercial relations with the East, and was 

 the product of these species. 



Another species of this genus, known to collectors 

 under the name of the emperor moth (Phalcena, At- 

 t&cus,Pavonia, Linnasus), and which is the only British 

 species belonging to this genus, has also been suc- 

 cessfully employed in Germany in the manufacture 

 of silk by M. Wentzel Hegeer von Berchtoldsdorf, 

 under an imperial patent. This handsome moth is 

 by no means rare, and varies in the expanse of its 

 wings from two and a half to three and a half inches, 

 and has the wings clouded and fasciated with grey, 

 with a large central eyelet. It proceeds from a large 

 caterpillar of a fine green colour with black bands, the 

 latter being ornamented with red and yellow hairy 

 warts. It is a very general feeder, and constructs a 

 very interesting cocoon for the purpose of undergoing 

 its transformations, of a brown colour and shaped 

 somewhat like a flask. It is composed of a solid tissue 

 of layers of silk, almost the texture of parchment ; 

 but at the narrow end it is composed of a series of 

 loosely attached longitudinal threads converging like 

 so many bristles to a blunt point, in the middle of 

 which is a circular opening through which the moth 

 makes its escape, the threads readily yielding to 

 pressure from within, and acting somewhat upon the 

 principle of the wires of the opening to a rat-trap, or 

 the willow cricks of an eel trunk. In order, however, 

 to guard against the danger which might arise from 

 the opening permitting the ingress of Ichneumons or 

 other enemies, the caterpillar constructs within the 

 funnel-shaped mouth a second funnel formed of a 

 similar series of thread converging to a point, without 

 the smallest opening being left, and its arched struc- 



Scctiou of the Cocoon of the Emperor Moth, allowing the inter, 

 nal dome, a ; and the external aperture, It. 



ture rendering it impenetrable to the most violent 

 efforts of any external enemy, whilst it yields to the 

 slightest pressure from within, and allows the egress 

 of the moth with the utmost facility, immediately 

 resuming its former appearance, so that it is impos- 

 sible at first to conceive how it is that the moth can 



