“WRe Seog 
28 
as it is drawn out into the air. This forms a loose 
web at first, but gradually contracts into an oval 
case. The cocoons are prepared in the following 
manner: The cocoons are either put into an oven, 
or exposed to hot steam to kill the pupa. After 
the looser threads (the floss-silk) has been separated, 
the cocoons are thrown into boiling water. The 
inner silk is then loostened with a rod, and as soon 
as the end of a thread is caught, the rest can easily 
be reeled off. Afterwards the silk is spun and 
woven into threads. The natural colour of the silk 
is white, yellow, greenish, or isabelline; and all 
others are dyed. A pound of silk is worth about 
twenty-four shillings, and North Italy alone annually 
exports silk of the value of upwards of £ 4,000,000. 
The silk-worm is a native of China, but ‘s now 
reared in all the warmer parts of the world. 
Family X. Notodontida. The fore wings are 
longer and thicker than the hind wings. The ab- 
domen is stout, and the legs are short and thick, 
and all of equal length. 
Fig. g. Cnethocampa processionea derives its 
name from the habits of its larva, the Processionary 
Caterpillar. In some seasons, they increase sq much 
as to detoliate the oak-forests on the Continent, and 
to kill many of the trees. The bluish-black cater- 
pillars with long whitish hairs on the sides, pass the 
day in large nests of web, and march out in the 
evening to feed in pyramidal order. They are 
usually found only on oaks, but will also feed on 
other trees. They afterwards return to the nest in 
the same order, one larva heading the procession. 
They are not only injurious from their voracity, but 
by casting their hairs, which cause intolerable itching 
and painful swellings if they come in contact with 
the skin, The yellowish grey moth with darker 
markings is found in autumn, and lays about 200 eggs 
on the trunk of a tree, It is unknown in England, 
Fig. h. Phalera Bucephala, the Buff-tip Moth, 
is common and destructive in most parts of Europe. 
The hairy caterpillar is black with yellow longitudinal 
streaks interrupted by reddish belts, and is found on 
a great variety of trees from July to October; and 
the moth emerges early in the following summer. 
Family XI. Liparida. These are white or 
brown moths with short, broad wings, short antennie, 
pectinated in the male, and a tuft at the end of the 
abdomen in the female with which they cover their 
eggs. The larve are hairy, and often injurious. 
Fig. i. Ocneria dispar, the Gipsy Moth, differs 
so much in the sexes that no one would imagine 
them to be the same. The male, which is repre- 
sented in our figure, is brown, with pectinated an- 
tennie, and flies about in the sunshine. The female 
is much larger, and is white, with zigzag blackish 
lines, and a thick abdomen covered with yellowish- 
grey wool. The antenne are black, and but slightly 
pectinated. The moths appear in summer, and the 
female, which is generally seen sitting on the trunks 
of trees, lays from 300 to 500 eggs, which it covers 
with wool from its abdomen. In the spring, the 
caterpillars hatch, and are very destructive to the 
trees on which they feed. About Midsummer, they 
form their cocoons in a leaf, 
Family XII. Arctiidae. These moths are 
generally adorned with bright colours; and the an- 
tennee are more or less pectinated in the males. 
The caterpillars feed chiefly on low plants, and are 
very hairy. 
Vig. k. <Arctia Caja, the Tiger Moth, is very 
common in gardens, The black hairy. caterpillar is 

sometimes called the Woolly Bear. It creeps very 
fast, and if touched, rolls itself up like a hedgehog. 
It feeds on all sorts of low plants, and is not par- 
ticular about its food. 
Fig. 1. Callimorpha hera, the Jersey Tiger, is 
another handsome species; but though common on 
the Continent, it is very scarce in England. The 
caterpillar is greyish brown, with a yellow stripe on 
the back, pale yellowish-white lines on the sides, 
and yellow warts. It feeds on low plants and 
shrubs, 
The Noctu@, or nocturnal moths proper, have 
a thick body, pointed behind, broad and generally 
sloping wings, generally of dull colours, and the 
hind wings shorter, more slender, and often without 
markings; the antenne are rarely pectinated, and 
the legs are long. The caterpillars are naked, or 
thinly clothed with hair, and have from 12 to 16 
legs. The pupa is naked and generally subterranean. 
Fig. m. Panolis piniperda is a handsome moth 
of moderate size which is sometimes injurious in 
pine and fir-forests. The caterpillar is green with 
3 white lines on the back, and a yellow one on 
the sides. 
Fig. n. Mamestra brassice, the Cabbage Moth, 
is a dark brown moth, with some white specks on 
the fore wings. Late in autumn, after the cater- 
pillars of the white butterflies have disappeared from 
the cabbage-fields, holes are frequently seen in the 
leaves, but the caterpillars are not visible by day, 
as they hide themselves in the ground, and 
only feed at night. After moulting four times, they 
attain their full size in three or four weeks, when 
they eat their way deeper into the cabbages. Then 
they burrow in the ground, and presently change to 
pup, in which state they pass the winter, and 
emerge as moths in May. The female lays her eggs 
which hatch in a fortnight, singly on the cabbages, 
and the moths from this brood appear at the end 
of the summer. 
Fig. 0. Mamestra pist is reddish brown, with 
dark transverse lines on the fore wings, and a white 
zigzag line towards the hind margin; the hind wings 
are ashy grey. The moth is found in May and 
June, and is not rare. The larva is green or brown 
with yellow lines. It feeds on peas, beans, clover, 
and other garden-plants, and sometimes causes con- 
siderable damage. In autumn, it makes a slight 
cocoon in the ground, and the moth appears in the 
following May. 
Fig. s. Triphena Pronuba, the Yellow Under- 
wing, is another very common moth in gardens and 
hayfields in June and July. The caterpillar is  yel- 
lowish brown, with dark oblique dashes on the sides. 
It feeds on low plants at night, hiding itself under 
leaves during the day. 
Fig. p. Flusta Gamma, the Gamma Moth, is 
one of the commonest of all the European Joctue, 
and in some seasons it is excessively abundant. It 
may be seen at all hours of the day and _ night 
sucking honey from all kinds of flowers, and has a 
wild swift flight. The female lays her eggs on the 
upper surface of the leaves, and the caterpillars hatch 
in about a fortnight. They feed on flax, hemp, peas, 
beans, cabbages, clover, and many other plants, 
devouring the leaves, flowers and young seeds indis- 
criminately, The fore wings are varied with violet- 
grey and brownish-grey, and are ornamented with a 
silvery white mark resembling a y, or more nearly. 
the Greek letter y, from which the moth derives its name. 
Sometimes, however, it is called the Silvery Moth. 
