Scale'winged Insects 



721 



and rounded hind wings. A species belonging 

 to this family, with green fore wings and brown 

 hind wings, may be shaken from every oak-tree 

 in summer, and at the same time numbers of 

 its little green caterpillars will drop themselves 

 down, and remain swinging at the end of a 

 thread, till they think that the danger is past, 

 when they climb up again. 



The Clothes-moths, familiar to everybody, 

 are representatives of an enormous family of 

 small moths, comprising nearly two-thirds of 

 the British species, but only a few live in 

 houses. Most have narrow wingfs with lonaf 

 fringes, and many feed in tortuous galleries 

 which they eat in the substance of leaves. 

 Some are among the snrallest moths known. 



The White Plume-moth, which may be noticed floating about in weedy places like a 

 piece of thistle-down, is a representative of a small family in which the fore wings are divided 

 into three separate feathers, and the hind wings into two. The other species are brown, and 

 smaller. When at rest, they look like small daddy-long-legs. 



The Twenty-plume Moth is a yellowish-grey species, less than an inch in expanse, often 

 to be seen at rest on windows or palings. 



It might easily be taken for a small looper- ~ ■ - 



moth, but that each wing is split into six ■ 

 feathers. 



I'ltuto bt/ i ^\ 2Iavto^iin\ 



CYPRESS-MOTHS. 

 The inside of the (.ocoons, showing tlic pupre. 



Silkworms. 



We have now completed a rapid survey 

 of the principal groups of Butterflies and 

 Moths, and may fittingly conclude this part 

 of our subject by giving a short account of 

 the history of Silkworms — insects which far 

 surpass all other butterflies and moths in 

 their importance to mankind, on account of 

 the valuable product which is obtained from 

 their cocoons. The industry has been 

 carried on from time immemorial in China ; 

 and many old Chinese works contain in- 

 teresting particulars, especially relating to 

 the rearing of silkworms by the queens and 

 their ladies, for silk was probably a royal 

 monopoly in old times. These Chinese 

 records date back to about 2200 B.C., when 

 the silk industry was already flourishing; 

 but, according to the usually received tradi- 

 tion, silkworms were first reared during the 

 reign of the Em^peror Hwang-te (2640 B.C.) 

 by his queen. The following extracts from 

 the "Le-he Book of Ceremonies," written 

 between 204 B.C. and 135 B.C., and quoted 

 by Horsfield and Moore in their " Catalogue 

 of the Lepidoptera of the East India 



I'hoto by C. N, Mavroi/cni'} [Siai/nta. 



CYPBESS-CATERPILLAES. 



When they leave their cocoons, the 3-oung caterpillars run up the tree to feed. 



91 



