610 INSECTA. 



row of pectinations ; the proboscis is always very short and indistinct ; the wings are roof-like and elon- 

 gated ; the females have the ovipositor long ; their caterpillars commit much havoc in different trees, &c. 



In some, the antennae are nearly alike in both sexes, with only very short teeth. 



Hepialus, Fabr., — 

 Which has these organs nearly moniliform, and much shorter than the thorax ; the hind vvin^s are generally des- 

 titute of a bridle. The caterpillars live in the earth, and eat the roots of plants. The Great Swift or Ghost Moth 

 {Hepialus HumuU), is a very common insect; the male with silvery white wings, and the female buff, with reddish 

 marks. 



Cossus, Fab,, has the antennae longer, with a row of short denticulations ; the caterpillars live in the interior of 

 trees, forming' their cocoons of the sawdust they make. The chrysalis, immediately before undergoing its final 

 change, works itself to the outer opening of its cell, in order to make its escape. The Goat Moth, Cosgits ligniperda, 

 is the type of the genus. Its larva is like a thick, short, red worm ; it lives in the interior of \arious trees, and 

 discharges a fetid liquor when alarmed, and which serves to soften the wood. 



Sli/gia, Drap., has a double row of teeth in the antennae. [Exotic species.] 



Zeuzera, Latr., differs from the preceding in having the male antenna furnished at the base with a double row 

 of long pectinations, and subsequently terminated by a thread; those of the females are simple, but cottony at the 

 base. Z. Msculi, the Wood Leopard, a handsome rare species, of a white colour, with numerous steel-blue spots. 

 The larva lives in the interior of various trees. 



Our second division, Bombycites, differs from the first and third, by having the proboscis always 

 very short and rudimental ; the wings are extended and horizontal, or roof-like, the lower ones ex- 

 tending beyond the upper ones at the sides ; and the male antennae entirely pectinated. The larva are 

 exposed, and feed upon the tender parts of vegetables ; they mostly make a cocoon of pure silk ; the 

 chrysalides have no rows of teeth on the margins of the abdominal segments. 



We form with the species which have the wings expanded and horizontal, a first subgenus, or the Phaliena Atta- 

 cusoi Linnseus, to which we restrict the name of 



Saturnia, Schrank., including that of Aglaia. It comprises the largest species, which have the vrings mostly 

 ornamented with glass-like spots. Such are the Great Atlas Moth of China, B. Cecropia, Luna, &c. The silk of 

 which the cocoons of two of the species are formed, has been employed from time immemorial at Bengal. I am 

 assured by M. Huzard, that in a Chinese manuscript these caterpillars have been temied the wild Silk-worms of 

 China, and I conjecture that the silken materials, obtained by the ancients in commerce, were produced from these 

 caterpillars. Europe furnishes five species of this subgenus, the largest of which is the Great Peacock, D.pavonia 

 major: the only British species is the Emperor Moth, [B. pavonia minor] ; the cocoon of this species is curious, 

 being formed internally with stiff, convergent, elastic threads, which facilitate the escape of the inclosed insect, 

 but prevent the entrance of others. 



The other Bombycites have the upper wings inclining at the side, or roof-like, the outer edge of the lower 

 extending beyond that of the upper wings. 



La^iocampa, has the palpi porrected like a beak, and the hind-wings often notched. The perfect insect often 

 resembles a packet of dead leaves. B. quercifolia, potatoria, &c. [divided by the German and English entomologists 

 into numerous subgenera]. 



Bombyx proper, has the palpi not remarkably prominent. 



B. Mori, Linn., the Silk-worm Moth. This well-known insect is a native of the northern provinces of China. 

 It was imported b)|fhe Greek missionaries, in the time of Justinian, to Constantinople ; whence, at the time of 

 the crusades, it passed from Morea into Sicdy and the kingdom of Naples, and subsequently, especially under 

 Sully, into France. But the ancients also obtained their silks, both by sea and land, from Pegu and Ava, or the 

 ancient Seres, which are the more generally alluded to in the writings of the earlier geographers. It is known 

 that silk was anciently sold at its weight in gold, and that it has become an important source of national riches. 



B. neustria, the Lackey Moth, the larva of which lives in society, under webs of large size, upon our fruit-trees ; 

 and B. processionea, the Processionary Moth, the caterpillars of which are also social, and which often change 

 their abode, marching in procession, one being in front serving as a guide, followed by two, and then three, four, 

 five, and so on. 



The third section of the Nocturnal Lepidoptera, that of the Pseudo-Bombyces, is composed of 

 species in which the hind wings, like those of all the following, are furnished with a bridle, which 

 fixes them to the anterior in repose, by which they are also then covered. The proboscis in the ter- 

 minal species is elongated, dilfering only from the following tribes by being rather shorter. The 

 antenuEE are entirely pectinated, or serrated, in the males. The larvae of all feed on the exterior parts 

 of vegetables. 



The first of these have the proboscis short, and unfitted for suction. In some of these the caterpillars do not 

 form portable cases, and are long, and furnished with ambulatory feet. 



Sericaria, Latr., has both sexes winged, and the upper wings are not denticulated on the inner margin. B. (lis- 

 pat. Fab. [the Gipsy Moth]. B. versicolor, Bucepftala, Coryli, pudibtinda, &c., forming the genera. Endromis, 

 Pi/gara, Liparis, &c. 



