164 



LEPIDOPTERA. 



to make a round hole through which to escape. To 

 obtain the silk produced by these animals it is, therefore, 

 necessary to kill them before they pierce the cocoon, and 

 then wind or reel off the thread or filament of which it 

 is composed. To unglue it, the cocoons are soaked in 

 warm water, then the filaments of three or four are united 

 into one thread. That part of the cocoon which cannot 

 be reeled off in this way is carded, and constitutes floss 

 silk. 



The mulberry bombyx is not the only moth that 

 yields silk that can be usefully employed. The 

 inhabitants of Madagascar make use of a species, 

 the caterpillars of which live in numerous bands, 

 and form a common nest, sometimes three feet high, 



FlG- 125. COCOCN OP TUSSEII SILKWORM. 



containing about five hundred cocoons. The thread 

 of the tusseh silk-worm is likewise valuable. 



The smaller moths are extremely numerous ; 

 nearly two thousand species of them are enumerated 

 as British. Many of these are very beautiful, and 

 many more are highly interesting from the habits of 

 their larvae ; among them we may select 



The Leaf-rollers (Tortrices)* so named from their 

 habit of rolling up the edges of leaves in various forms, 

 and so fastening them with silk, as to make compact 



* Tortrix, pi. Tor trices, fern, of Tortor, one who twists. 



