LEPIDOPTEEA. 



229 



and disunited, but not broken. The moth opens a passage for 

 itself through the threads thus separated, and makes its ap- 

 pearance in the light of day. Its wings are folded back on 

 themselves, and it is still quite wet, but it seeks immediately 

 for a good place in which to 

 dry itself, and in a little time 

 assumes its final appearance 

 (Figs. 209, 210). The female 

 (Fig. 210) has whitish wings, 

 the antennae only slightly de- 



_ J , i Fl S- 209. Silkworm Moth (Bombyx 



veloped and pale, the abdomen man), male. 



voluminous, cylindrical, and well filled. It is quiet, heavy, and 

 stationary. The male is smaller ; its wings are tinged with grey, 

 its antennae blackish ; it moves about, beats its wings together, 

 and is lively and petulant. 



After copulation, before laying her eggs, the female looks out 

 for a place suitable for this purpose. When she has found this 

 place, she ejects an egg co- 

 vered with a viscous liquid, 

 which causes it to adhere to 

 the body upon which it falls. 

 Yery soon she lays a second 

 egg by the side of the first, 

 then a third by the side of 

 the second, and so on. She 

 very rarely piles them up on 

 each other. The laying lasts 

 about three days ; the number 

 of eggs is from 300 to 700 

 for each female. These eggs are generally lenticular and flattened 

 towards the centre. At the moment at which they are laid they 

 are of a bright yellow. In a week they become brown. The 

 colour changes then *to a reddish grey ; lastly it becomes of a 

 slaty grey, remaining this colour during the autumn, winter, 

 and a great part of the spring. Then as the temperature rises, 

 the colour of the eggs passes successively through bluish, violet, 

 ashy, and yellowish shades. And lastly they become more and 

 more whitish every day as the hatching time approaches. 



Fig. 210. -Silkworm Moth (Bombyx 

 mori), female. 



