EMPEROR MOTH. 227 



The male has the upper wings of deeper and richer 

 hues than those of his mate, and the under wings are 

 warm ochreous orange, mottled and striped as in the 

 female. The eye-like spots are similar in both sexes. 

 The male is also distinguished by the antennae, which 

 are shorter than those of the female, and have a beau- 

 tiful double feathering, widest in the middle, and de- 

 creasing towards the base and tip, so as to give the 

 whole organ an outline much resembling that of the 

 laurel leaf. 



The caterpillar is quite as conspicuous as the perfect 

 insect. It is beautiful leafy-green in colour, and the 

 segments are marked so very distinctly that they look 

 as if a number of threads had been tied tightly round 

 the insect at the junctures of the segments. On each 

 segment are a number of pink tubercles, each tubercle 

 bearing a small brush of black bristles, and being sur- 

 rounded with a ring of black. It feeds on a variety of 

 plants, but I have found it more frequently on heath 

 than on any other plant. 



When it is full-fed, the larva spins a light-brown 

 cocoon among its food, and the perfect insect appears 

 in the middle of spring. 



This cocoon is one of the most remarkable and 

 interesting of insect habitations. Externally it is a 

 simple brown, oval structure, more pointed at one end 

 than the other, and having an outline much resembling 

 that of a balloon. If it be carefully opened, and cut 

 in two longitudinally, a most remarkable structure is 

 seen. The smaller and pointed end is double, and 

 within the outer case is a ring of short and stiff threads, 



Q 2 



