LEPIDOPTERA. 403 



is so common as to have given rise, I believe, to the name of this 

 settlement ; namely, ' Munsoory,' or, more commonly among Euro- 

 peans, ' Mussooree.' I do not know the botanical name of this 

 plant."*— (Trans. Ent. Soc. IV. p. 221.) 



" I have again reared specimens of A. Selene, and observed atten- 

 tively the method by which it cuts its way through the cocoon, by 

 means of the instrument which I have named ' the wing-spur,' or 

 ' spine.' 



" The point of this is thrust through the cocoon, and the cutting- 

 edge drawn across the fibres, until severed sufficiently to enable the 

 moth to come forth." — (Trans. Ent. Soc. V. p. 85.) 



" Before proceeding to separate the threads of the cocoon by means 

 of the wing-spines, I have ascertained that the moth ejects from tlie 

 mouth a few drops of a clear, colourless fluid, with which the gum is 

 dissolved ; and it appears to use the tuft of down on the front, between 

 the eyes, as a brush for the application of the solvent." — (P. Z. S. 

 (1856), p. 5.) 



Capt. Hutton since remarks (Journal of the Agri-Horticultural 

 Society of India, IX. pp. 167-9, 1856) : " I have this season watched 

 the process of the escape of this moth {A. Selene) from the cocoon 

 in no fewer than two hundred specimens, and can answer for there 

 being no mistake in the matter, a drop of the clear, colourless liquid 

 often remaining upon the tuft of hair, or down, on the forehead between 

 the eyes, and which tuft appears to be used as a brush for the appli- 

 cation of the solvent to the threads of the cocoon. 



" I have this year (1855) reared a number of the caterpillars for 

 the purpose of ascertaining the value of the silk, but am sorry to say 

 have failed in my attempts to unwind the silk from the cocoons. 

 With some difficulty I managed to procure a supply of eggs from 

 the moths which came forth in October, and had intended sending 

 them to Europe, when, to my regret and surprise, they began to 

 hatch on the 4th of November, and are still coming forth daily (10th). 

 They are at present thriving on the shrub Coriaria nipalensis, grow- 

 ing in the open air ; but whether they will be able to spin up again 

 before the frosts set in, remains yet to be seen. These caterpillars 

 feed naturally on Coriaria nipalensis, Andromeda ovalifolia, the 

 walnut, and I think also upon Qarpinus bimana. The first-named 

 shrub would probably grow well and rapidly in some parts of Europe, 

 and so furnish nourishment both for the larvae of Act. Selene, if found 



* Coriaria nipalensis. 



