156 Silkworms in In/Ha. [Vol. I, 



revival. Writing to the Government of India in 1877, Colonel Keatinge observed 

 that the question of extending the pat silk industry need not be seriouslj- discussed." 



BOMBYX SINENSIS. 1 

 " Sina," " Cheena," or " Chota pat." 



A small multivoltine mulberry silkworm which produces cocoons 

 inferior to those of the Desi or Madrassi. It is found in Bengal, but its 

 cultivation has been almost entirely abandoned. 



The following is an extract from Hutton's paper in Journ. Agri. Horti. 

 Soc. India, III, page 125 (1871) :— 



" Bombyx sinensis. — This is known as the sina of Bengal, but, like the others, it 

 originally came from China ; it is very prolific, and even at Mussoorie goes on yielding 

 crop after crop, up to the middle of December. The cocoons vary in colour some 

 being white and others yellow, while others even have a beautiful faint-greenish hue. 

 There is a peculiarity about these also which may enable the tyro to distinguish 

 them from any of the others ; while all the other species hatch slowly during the 

 morning, from six to twelve o'clock, the sina worms come forth all in a batch, or con- 

 tinue hatching all day and all night." 



Other Bombyx Silkworms. 



In the Indian Museum Report for 1886, Wood-Mason designates a 

 variety of silkworm from Cuddapah and Coimbatore in the Madras 

 Presidency, as Bombyx meridionalis ; it seems very doubtful, however, 

 whether this variety is distinct from the Chota pat of Bengal. Rondot, 

 in his Uart de lasoie (Volume II, page 483, 1887), describes the cocoons 

 as small, soft, generally much satine; in colour white, pale sulphur 

 yellow, or very pale green; fibre 19*5 thousandths of a millimetre in 

 diameter, its tenacity varying from 3 to 4*5 grammes, and its elasticity 

 from 6 to 8 per cent. 



Besides the above there is a species (originally described by Drury 

 in his work on insects written in 1782), which has been classified 

 amongst the Bombyx silkworms under the name of Bombyx lugubris ;* 

 beyond the bare description, however, nothing seems to be known about 

 it, and it may, therefore, be neglected. From Drury's figure it may 

 possibly be one of the species of Theophila which are found wild in many 

 parts of India. 



1 References — Bombyx sinensis — 



Hutton, Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond. (3), ii, p. 313 (1864-6). 

 „ Journ. Agri. Hort. Soc. Indin, iii, p. 125 (1871). 



Moore, Wardle's Wild Silks of India, p. 3 (1881). 

 3 Vide Catalogue of the Moths of India by Cotes and Swiuboe, No. 1097. 



