LEPIDOPTEKS: MOTHS. 



149 



rows on each side. The female has all the wiiij^s 

 white, or all light gray, with the black spots. 



The common Silk-Worm is celebrated as the insect 

 which produces the greater part of all the silk used in 

 the world. It is the larva or caterpillar of a moth, 

 — Bombyx mori, — which expands about two inches, 

 and which is of a light color, with two or three obscure 

 streaks, and a spot on the upper wings. It feeds upon 

 the leaves of the mulberry-tree, and spins a cocoon 

 about an inch and a half long, of a yellow color, and 

 which contains about one thousand feet of silk. This 

 silk-worm is a native of China, but is now raised ex- 

 tensively in Europe, and, to some extent, in this 

 country. The larvae of several other moths, most of 

 them of large size, are now raised, not only in Asia, 

 but also in Europe and in the United States, for the 

 purpose of producing sjlk. 



The Cecropia Moth, the Promethea Moth, the Luna 

 Moth, and the Polyphemus Moth are all large and 

 magnificent species, — the largest in North America. 

 They have the antennae broadly feathered on both sides, 

 and beautiful eye-like spots on the wings. All but the 

 Promethea expand five or six inches, and the latter 

 expands about four inches. They appear in June. 

 The Cecropia is dusky 

 brown, and near the mid- 

 dle of eacli wing is a dull 

 red spot with a white cen- 

 tre and a narrow black 

 edging, and beyond the 

 spot a dull red band bor- 

 dered on the inside with 

 white, and near the tips of the fore wings is an eye 



Fig. 280. — Chrysalis of Cecropia, 

 cocoon removed. 



