6iU INSECTA. 



row 01 poctinations ; the proboscis is always very sliort and indistinct ; the wings are roof-like and elon- 

 gati'd ; the females have the ovipositor long ; their caterpillars commit inneli havoc in dilferent trees, <ic. 



in t^unic, tbe anl:cnn;e' are nearly alike in Imth ,SL'\rs, with only very short tceUi. 



Hi' iM ALi:y, Falir.,— 

 AVliich lias tjie.-^e oriiuiis nearly moniliforni, and nnicli sliortcr than the thorax; the hind win^s are grenerally des- 

 titute of a bridle. The caterpillars live in the earth, and eat the roots of plants. The Great Swift or Ghost Moth 

 {ficj'ialui- JIuinuli), is a very common insect; the rnale with silvery white wings, and the female butf, with reddi&h 

 marks. 



Cossus, Fab., has the aiiteiin;i^ lon;^er, with a row of short denticnlatious ; the caterpillars live in the intLTiiJi- of 

 trees, forming their cocoons of the sawdust they make. The chrysalis, immediately before undergoiiiL;- its final 

 chansje, works itself to theouter opening of its ceil, in order to make its escape. The Goat Mnth, Cossus /if/"ijn:ri/(r, 

 is the type of the ^enns. Its larva is like a thick, short, red worm ; it lives in the interior ut various tn.'i.'S, and 

 discharges a fetid liquor when alarmed, and which serves to soften the wood. 



St)/(jia, Drap., has a double row of teeth in the antennEe. [Exotic species.] 



Zeuzera, Latr., dili'ers from the preceding in having the male antenna furnished at the base with a rlouble row 

 of long; pectinations, and subsequently terminated by a thread ; those of the females ai-e simple, but cottony at the 

 base. Z. jEscuU, the Wood Leopard, a handsome rare species, of a wliite colour, \\ith numerous steel-blue spots. 

 The larva lives in the interior of various trees. 



Onr second division, Bomuycites, differs from tlie lirst and third, liy ha\iii3; tlie iirolioscis always 

 very short and rudimental; the wings are extended and horizontal, or roof-like, tlic hjwer ones ex- 

 tending beyond the upper ones at the sides ; and the male antennae entirely pectinated. The larvre are 

 exposed, and feed upon the tender parts of vegetables ; they mostly make a cocoon of pure silk ; the 

 chrysalides have no rows of teeth on tlie margins of the abdominal segments. 



AYe forni with tliu .-.pecies which have the wings expanded and horizontal, a lirst sub,^enus, or the PhaLciui Atta- 

 I'liv uf Liuiia'us, to wiiicli we restrict the name of 



Satuniia, Schrank., includinfr that of J.9/a/a. It comprises the lar:j:est species, which have tlie wings mostly 

 ornamented with glass-like spots. Such are the Great Atlas Moth of China, B. Cccropia, Luna, &c. TIil' silk of 

 which the cocoons of two of the species are formed, has been employed from time immemorial at Bengal. I am 

 assured by M. Huzard, that in a Chinese manuscript these caterpillars have been termed the wild Silk-worms of 

 China, and I conjecture that the silken materials, obtained by the ancients in commerce, were produced from these 

 caterpillars. Europe furnishes five species of this subgenus, the largest of which is the Great Peacock, JJ.pavonia 

 major : the only British species is the Emperor Moth, [iJ. pavonia minor'] ; the cocuou of this species is carious^ 

 being formed internally with stilf, cojl verge nt, elastic threads, which fidiitate the escape of the inclosed insect, 

 but prevent the entrance of others. 



The other Bombycites have the upper wings inclining at the side, or roof-like, the outer edge of the lower 

 extending beyond that of the upper wings. 



Lasiocampa, has the palpi porrected like a beak, and the hind-wings <:d'teu notched. The jierfect insect often 

 resembles a packet of dead leaves. B- qiurcifolia, patitluria, ^c. [divided by the German and iinglish entomologists 

 into numerous subgenera]. 



Bovihijx proper, has the palpi not remarkably prominent. 



B. Mori, Linn., the Silk-wnrni j\Ioth. This well-known insect is a native ^)i thi' northern provinces y\^ China. 

 It was imported by the Greek missionaries, in the time of Justinian, to Constantino|de ; whence, at the time of 

 the crusades, it passed from IMorea into Sicily and the kingdom of Naples, and subsequently, e;:pecially under 

 Sully, into France. But the ancients also obtained their silks, both by sea and land, from Pegu and Ava, or the 

 ancient Seres, which are the more generally alluded to in the writings of the earlier geogi-aphers. It is known 

 that silk was anciently sold at its weight in gold, and that it has become an important source of national riches. 



B, neastria, the Lackey Moth, the larva of which lives in society, under webs of large size, upon our fruit-trees ; 

 and B. processioned, the Processionary Moth, the caterpillars of which are also social, and which often change 

 their abode, marching in procession, one being in fi-ont servnig as a guide, folloued by two, and then tlirec, four, 

 tive, and so on. 



The tliii'd section of the Nocturnal Leiiidnptera, that of the ryEut>o-BoMBYCt:s, is composed of 

 species in which the hind wings, like those of all t!n_: following, are furnished with a bridk', -which 

 fixes them to the anterior in repose, by \^hich they are aho then co\ered. The iiridioscis in the ter- 

 minal species is elongated, differing only from the following tribes by Iteing rather shorter. The 

 antenna; are entirely pectinated, or serrated, in Ihe males. The larvae of all feed on the exterior parts 

 of vegetables. 



The tirtit of these have the [iroboscis short, and uiMitte:l for suction. In some of these the caterpillars do not 

 form portable cases, and are long, and furnished with ambulatory feet. 



Sericaria, Latr., has both sexes winged, and the ui>per wings are not dcnticulatei! on the inner margin. B. <lis- 

 p"t, Fab. [the Gipsy Moth]. B. versicolor, Biiceph<il<(, Cor>//i, pudihntnJa, &c., forining the grncra Eixfrontis, 

 J'','l<.eni, Lijiarii;^ \S.c. 



