Saturniidae 



hanging from the twigs of the spice-bush, the sassafras, and 

 other trees. As they dangle in the wind they are easily de- 

 tected, though they are often 

 wrapped in the dead leaf in 

 which the caterpillar originally 

 spun them. The larva of which, 

 in addition to the figure given in 

 Plate I, we furnish a cut herewith, 

 is a rather striking object, the 

 coral-red tubercles on the second 

 and third anterior segments 

 showing conspicuously against 

 the bluish-green epidermis. The 

 insect subsists in the larval stage 

 upon a great variety of deciduous 

 shrubs and trees, showing a 



Fig. 38. Callosamia promethea. 

 a, Young larva; b, front view of 

 head; c, magnified view of a seg- 

 ment of young larva; d, mature 

 larva. (After Riley.) 



special predilection for the Lauracece, 

 Liriodendron, Liquidambar, and the 

 wild-cherry. It ranges over the Atlantic 

 States from Florida to New England 

 into southern Canada, and thence 

 westward through the valley of the 

 Mississippi to the eastern boundaries 

 of the great plains. Whether the silk 

 produced by this common and easily 

 reared species could be utilized in 

 such a way as to make its production commercially profitable 

 is a problem to be solved in the future. No one up to 



8? 



Fig. 39. Cocoon of C. 

 promethea. (After Riley.) 



