20 - 



lYtt. or mulbeiiy silkvvorra. — Of this there are 

 two species cultivatod in Assam; the univoltine 

 Bombjix tertor. called hör polii. or large worm, and 

 the multivoltine lioni [lohi. or small worm, Boiiiln).r 

 rrar.si. Both Species are reared iudoors on the le- 

 aves of the mulberry (Monis iiidliKj. 



Anai-iis rlciiii. — Kit worm, or Attm-nx riciiii. 

 This is reared principally on the castor-oil plant 

 (Hiriinix coiintiiiiiisj. called crl in Assamese, but it 

 feeds also oa the Kcscni (H('teropana.r frcujansj, 

 and there are several other trees, as jiuhinclni (Ja- 

 tropha cii/TdsJ, the (/ou/iiri fliiiipliiia arliorea, and 

 even it is said, the common ho(jri or Iwr tree (Zix- 

 phiis jiijuhii). which the worm can thrive on in its 

 later stages, if other food is not procurable in suffi- 

 cieut quantity. The Kri worm is multivoltine, and 

 is reared entirely indoors, and as many as eight 

 broods can be obtained in tweke months. Large 

 uumbers of worms are lost by disease dnring these 

 iudoor rearings, which is not to be wondered at, 

 as the excreta auJ even the dead worms are not re- 

 moved. The Eri worm is cultivated, to a greater 

 or less exteut, in every district of the province of ! 

 Assam. j 



The number of moiiltings of the Kri worm is 

 four. The Caterpillar is first about a quarter of 

 au iuch long, and appears nearly black. The colour 

 is, perhaps, more exactly doscribed as a blackish-yel- 

 low. As it increases in size, it becomes of an orange 

 colour, with six black spots on each of the twelve 

 rings which form its body. The head, claws, and 

 holders are black; after the second moulting, they 

 ciiange to an orange colour; that of the body gra- 

 dually becomes lighter, in some approaching to white, 

 in others to green, and the black spots gradually 

 become the colour of the body. After the fourth 

 or last moulting, the colour is a dirty white, or a 

 dark green. On attaining its fall size, the worm 

 is about 372 inches long. According to one series 

 of observations, it would appear that in the bot 

 months, the first change of skin occurs three days 

 after hatching, and the rest follow at intervals of 

 three days, while the worm begins to spin on the 

 fourth day after the final change, or the tifteenth 

 day after hatching. In the cooler months, the period 

 between each moulting is four or five days, making 

 twenty to twenty-five days between hatching and 

 beginning to spin; and in the winter season, the 

 worm lives a whole montb, or even longer. 



The ^Iiiija worm or Antlicram (issaitiaiv (A. 



a.ssrnui'iis/sj. — The scientific name of the Mii(/n 

 silkworm denotes its peculiar connection with Assam, 

 and in fact it is found in no other part of India 

 except Dehra Doon, where it occurs sparingly. Its 

 Assamese name, nz/n/'t. is said to be derived from 

 the amber colour of the silk, and is frequently used 

 to deuote silk in general, so that Kr/ luiiijd means 

 eri silk, Kntkiiri iinnja tusser silk, and so on; the 

 genuine iiiiiijd being distinguished by the title of 

 Soiiijxitid iiiiiijK, or silk yielded by the worm that 

 feeds ou -the snni leat. It is a multivoltine worm, 

 and is commouly said to be semi-domesticated, be- 

 cause it is reared upon trees in the open air; but 

 in fact it is as much domesticated as any other 

 species, being haetched indoors, while during its 

 life on the tree it is entirely dependent on the cul- 

 tivator for protection from its numerous enemies. 



(to 1)0 contiuiUMl.) 



Mitteilungen des entomologischen Vereins für 

 Hamburg-Altona 1899-1904. 



Die im Jahr 1898 von nur wenigen Sammlern 

 gegründete Vereinigung zeigt, wenn man ihren Be- 

 richt durchgeht, ein reges entomologisches Leben. 

 Den Hauptinhalt der Mitteilungen bildet ein Ver- 

 zeichnis der Schmetterlinge der Umgegend Hamburg- 

 A'tonas aus der Feder von 0. Laplace, dem Vor- 

 sitzenden. Es sind darin die Macro-Lepidopteren sorg- 

 fältig behandelt, ihr Fundort und Zeit des Vorkommens 

 notiert imd wird die Arbeit speziell den Sammlern 

 Hambiirg-AUonas ein wertvoller Katgeber sein. 



Briefkasten der Redaktion 



Herrn W. N. in Z. Versandt kann erst mit 

 nächster Nummer erfolgen; die anderen Listen 

 waren zuerst angemeldet. 



Herrn A. G. in B. Komme später auf Ihre Karte 

 zurück, erwarte erst noch weitere Sendungen und 

 Anweisung. Vorläufig danke für Ihre Bereitwilligkeit. 



Bibliothek der Societas entomologica. 



Von Herrn Paul Born ging als Geschenk ein: 

 Über einige Formen des Carabus violaceus L. 



Carahus morbillosus und seine Formen 

 von Paul Born. 



Vom entomolog. Ver. Hamburg-Altona : 



Mitteilungen des Entomologischen Vereins für 

 Hamburg-Altona 1899—1904. 



Der Empfang wird dankend bestätigt 



M. Rühl. 



Neu eingelaufene Preislisten. 



Arnold Voelscliow in Schwerin : Preisliste Nr. 42 

 über lebendes Zuchtmaterial. Eier, Raupen und 

 Puppen europäischer und exotischer Lepidopteren, 

 Eier von Stabheuschrecken. Terrarien-Tiere, 



