SILK-PRODUCING LEPIDOPTERA. 353 



BoROCERA MADAGAscARiENSis, Boisduval. A spGcies which the 

 Malgaches call Bibindandy, which means silkworm, from which 

 they obtain silk used in the manufactm^e of their magnificent 

 stuffs called Lamba-landy. The cocoon, of a greyish colour, is 

 about 0*05 m. in length by 0'03 m. in its broadest diameter, 

 when produced by the female insect. The cocoon of the male is 

 but 0*03 m. in length by 0"015 m. in its largest diameter. The 

 moths emerge about thirty days after the formation of the 

 chrysalis. The Bibindandy larva is very polyphagous, but the 

 Malgaches rear it in preference on the Cytisus cajanus and on the 

 Tap} a edulis ; among other trees the weeping willow is given. 

 The Rev. P. Camboue also says he found on the coast cocoons of 

 Bibindandy on the orange tree, on a species of Terminalia called 

 in French " Badamier,'' and on the Baringtonia speciosa. On the 

 western coast many are found on the *'paletuviers" or mangrove, 

 and other trees growing on the sea-shore. The Bibindandy can 

 live on the hills in the interior of the island, where there are 

 only three or four degrees centigrade of heat. This is the most 

 important of the wild silkworms of Madagascar. 



Bibindandy dynamboa (dog silkworm) and Bibindandy madi- 

 NiKA (small silkworm) are two species of Borocera allied to 

 B. madagascariensis. 



GoNOMETA posTicA, Walker. An important South African 

 species, which feeds on Mimosa caffia. The female cocoon is 

 considerably larger than that of the male, and the insect has a 

 striking analogy with the Borocera. It is described and figured 

 in the report for the years 1887 and 1888, presented to the 

 Lyons Chamber of Commerce by the " Commission administra- 

 tive," Mr. Roberts, of Uitenhage, having sent, through the 

 medium of the Vice-Consul of France at Port Elizabeth, for the 

 laboratory of the Lyons Chamber of Commerce, specimens of 

 cocoons and moths, and all useful information respecting this 

 species. According to the notes of Mr. Roberts, the moths of 

 G. postica emerge in September, and the larvae arrive at maturity 

 about the end of December and commencement of January, and 

 then form their cocoons, the pupae remaining eight months in 

 the cocoons before the moths emerge. During this long interval 

 most of the pupae are destroyed by a dipterous parasite, hardly 

 a fifth of the live cocoons remaining for the reproduction of the 

 species. Fortunately another parasite, one of the Hymenoptera, 

 feeds in its turn on the terrible Dipteron, and thus limits its 

 multiplication. 



Saturnia suruka, Boisduval, Caligula suruka. A large and 

 beautiful species. The larva attains a length of ten centimeters, 

 and forms a double net-work cocoon of a yellowish tint, about 

 six centimeters in length, and three centimeters in its widest 

 diameter. The larva, which is polyphagous, lives well on 

 Nerium oleander. When full grown it is green, with greenish- 



