THE 



NATURE-STUDY REVIEW 



Vol. 15 October, 1919 No. 7 



- *The American Silk-worms 



The larger moths, and some of the smaller ones, afford most 

 interesting and delightful material for Natiire-study. It is well 

 for the children to become acquainted with these beautiful insects 

 so that their enjo\Tnent in them may be life-long. It is astonish- 

 ing to discover how few people have seen these large moths; 

 every season we receive letters about or specimens of cecropia or 

 luna from people who believe that no one ever saw them before. 

 They cannot understand why, if people knew about these creatures, 

 they should not have trumpeted the news abroad to a waiting 

 world. We hope that this nimiber of The Nature-Study 

 Review will serve to make many acqaainted with these splendid 

 night-flyers. 



The silk-worm that gives us the silk of commerce has been 

 danesticated for centuries in China. Because of this domestica- 

 tion it is willing to be handled and is reared successfully in cap- 

 tivity, and has thus come to be the source of most of our silken 

 fabrics. However, we have in America native silk-worms which 

 prod ace a silk that is stronger and makes a more lustrous cloth 

 than does that made from the Chinese species. But we have 

 never had the time and the patience here in America to domesti- 

 cate these giant silk-worms of oars, and so they are, as yet, of no 

 commercial importance. 



The names of our common native silk-worms are : the cecropia, 

 promethea, polyphemus, and lima. In all of these species the 

 moths are large and beautiful attracting the attention of every 

 one who sees them. The caterpillars are rarely found, as their 

 varied green colors render them inconspicuous among leaves on 

 which they feed. None of the caterpillars of the giant silk-worm 



*This account of the American Silkworms is taken largely from a leaflet 

 written by the Editor for pupils in the Cornell University Home Nature- 

 study Coxirse in 1905. The leaflet was a popular one and has long been out of 

 print. The illustrations were made from photographs taken by the late 

 Professor M. V. SUngerland. 



263 



