LEPIDOPTEBA. 



251 



whole completely enclosed in a black circle. " These moths/' says 

 Geoffrey, " are very large ; they look as if they were covered 

 with fur, and, when they fly, one is inclined to take them for birds." 

 Saturnia pavonia-major comes from a very large caterpillar, 

 which is of a beautiful green, with tubercules of turquoise 

 blue, each of which is surmounted by seven stiff divergent hairs. 

 This caterpillar lives principally upon the elm, but it feeds also 

 upon the leaves of the pear, plum, and other trees. It spins a 



Fig. 230. Emperor Motli (satur/iuicai'jjiHij. 



brown cocoon, formed of a coarse silk of great strength. It is not 

 until the following spring that it becomes a moth. 



The Emperor Moth (Saturnia carpini, Fig. 230) much resembles 

 the above, except in size. This species is common in England, and 

 its green larva, covered with black or pink warts, from which spring 

 hairs as in the last, is by no means rare on heath in the autumn. 

 It also feeds on bramble and other plants. 



Among the Attaci foreign to Europe, we must mention Atlas 

 (Fig. 231), the expanse of whose wings exceeds four and a 

 quarter inches. This magnificent moth, one of the largest known, 

 comes from China. 



The family Bombytida comprises many species which we must 

 not omit to mention. 



