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C. C. GOWDEY— ON THE UTILISATION OF AN INDIGENOUS 



golden-brown hairs from the apex of the abdomen of the female moth. The 

 larvae feed in groups or colonies, and dislike sunlight. They are very voracious, 

 devouring the foliage with great rapidity, but they do not appear to feed on the 

 very old leaves. Towards the end of the larval period the larvae establish 

 themselves in the bifurcations of the branches of the tree on which they have 

 been feeding and begin to build a large cocoon-mass, or nest, of soft silk, which 

 they occupy. The colour of the nest varies, but it is most often of a ferruginous 

 brown. When the nest is finished and the larvae are ready to pupate, they go 

 inside and each encloses itself in a small cocoon. 



The nests vary greatly in shape and size ; sometimes, with the live larvae, they 

 weigh as much as six to eight pounds, and contain from 120 to 600 or even 800 

 insects. 



Fig. 1. — Nest of Auaplie infracta, Wlsm. 



On examination of the nests it will be seen that they consist of three envelopes 

 of silk. The first or outer envelope is composed of very fine silk, but fairly 

 strong and long. The second envelope consists of several layers of silk, placed 

 so close together that it has the appearance of a layer of sheets. The third 

 envelope is of the texture of parchment, and is also formed of several layers of 

 silk. This last envelope is hard and extremely resistant, but the silk of which 

 it is composed is better than that of the other two. The separate cocoons 

 within the nests are made of fine silken threads, but their value is diminished by 



