BOM 



BOM 



in a kind of appendage, almoft forming a fourtli joint, as is 

 to be obferved with the adiftance of glalTes. Tholi? who 

 have carefully examined the ftrudlure ot the trunk with the 

 microfcope affirm, that the number of valves or briftles con- 

 cealed within the external bivalve (heath are four inftead of 

 three, as Gmclin dcfcribes them. The antennx are infcrted 

 at the bafe of the trunk. 



Infecls of this genus have the head comparatively of a 

 fmall fize, of a form fomewhat rotund, and almofl wholly 

 occupied by the eyes. The thorax large, the abdomen 

 bulky, and rounded at the extremity as in the bee. Both 

 the thorax and abdomen are hairy, or covered v.-ith down. 

 The wings longer than the body, and extended hori/.ontally. 

 Legs long and flender. 



The fize and rotundity of the body afford an excellent 

 natural charafter, by which this tribe of infcfts may be dif- 

 tinguifhed from thofe of the genera empis and alilus, with 

 which fome naturaliils have confounded them. The Fabri- 

 cian fpecics of volucella, cytherea, and anthrax, have been 

 referred to the bombylius gcuiis with very little propriety. 



■^Fhe true bombylius is a lively aftive tribe of infefis, that 

 fiiblill entirely on the neclnreous juices tliey extrafrt from 

 flowers, with the affiftar.ce of tlieir long probofeis or trunk. 

 They fly with much rapidity, making all the time a foft 

 humming noife fimilar to that of the bee. In England the 

 largell fpecies (major) has acquired the name of the humble 

 bee fly. The infcCts of this tribe are found in the winged 

 ftate in the fummer, but their metamorphofe is utterly un- 

 known. 



Only a fmall number of fpecies in this genus are at prcfent 

 known, namely major, medius, minor, minimus, atcr, fuf- 

 cus, grifeus, virefcens, and albifrons : tbefe are natives of 

 Europe. The extra-European kinds are 3:qualis, capenfis, 

 cupreus, maculatus, pygmxus, and vcrficolor. 



BOMBYX, a genus of Lepidopterous infcfls, 

 or rather one of the iubdivi.lons of the PhaL/'ena, an ex- 

 tenfive genus, in which all the infefts of the moth tribe 

 are comprifed by Linnaeus. Fabricius, in his " Entomolo- 

 gia fyllematica," admits the bombyx as a genus, applying 

 tlie term phalaena, which Linnxus gave indifcriminately to 

 all the fpecies of the moth tribe, as a generical name to that 

 particular defcription of moths which have the palpi cylin- 

 drical, the tongue advanced and membranaceous, and the an- 

 tennae filiform. 



The true definition of the bombyces, whether confidered 

 as a fubdivifion of the phalsena, or as conflituting a genus 

 of themfelves, is not fufficiently explicit. A great number 

 of the fpecies may be readily refLrrtd to their proper ftation 

 in the genus, by obferving with attention the charadters laid 

 down by Linnxus ; but there are others which cannot be fo 

 accurately diRinguifhed froiu the nodtna as we could wifli, 

 by the affUlance of thofe cliaraclers. If, for inftance, we 

 advert to the earlier editions of the I.innxan Syilema naturse, 

 we (hall find even in the fmall number of fpecies which that 

 iiaturalill defcribes, that the greateil confullon prevails in 

 this refpeft. Had Linnaeus been himfclf correft in his ideas 

 of the natural charadler of the bombyces, we are almoll per- 

 iuaded he would not have conlidered phalana bucephala as 

 a noclua, any more than domlnula, fuliginofa, jacobxie, 

 and fome others, which he includes as fuch in his arrange- 

 ment of the lepidoptera. 



I^innaeus thought at firft the pefilnated antenns of the 

 lepidoptera a fufBcient criterion of the bombyces, provided 

 the wings were incumbent and deprcffed, while the iiiftfl 

 remained in a reft'nij nofition, becaufe thegeometrx, though 

 often furniflied with pectinated antennx, have the wings ex- 

 panded, horizontally wher. ut rell. But later obfu'vatjons of 



other naturalifts have determined this charafter of the bom- 

 byx to be infufGcient to dillinguifh it. 



In the Syftema naturx, Linnxus divides the bombyces 

 into fcftions in the following order ; the elingues, or thofe 

 without a manifeft fpiral tongue, and the fplrilin^ues., having 

 an involuted fpiral tongue. Thefe two principal feclions are 

 fubdivided again ; the clingues, into thofe with the back 

 fmoothornot crefted, — with expanded wings, — with reverfed 

 wings, — with deflefted wings, — with ereft crefls, or tufts on 

 the back ; and ihejpiillingnes, thofe fmooth, with expand- 

 ed wings, — with deflected wings, — and with the back crelled. 



This mode of arrangement is entirely fuperfeded by the 

 Entomologia Syflematica of Fabricius. The htter writer 

 takes his characters, as ufual, chiefly from the tongue and 

 palpi. His bombyx is thus generically dcfcribed ; feelers two, 

 compreffed, reflected ; tongue fhort, and membranaceous;; 

 antennae filiform. By this many of the Linnsan bom- 

 byces are excluded, for the reception of which he ellablifhes 

 two other genera, thofe of Coffus and Hepialus, both of 

 which moll Urictly appertain to the Linnsan bombyces. 

 The bombyx coffus gave I'abricius the idea of forming a 

 diiUnft genus of the fpecies analogous to this infect. The- 

 characters he lays down f.ir the coffus are thefe ; the palpf 

 or feelers two, compreffed, cylindrical; with no tongue; 

 and the antennas fhort and filiform. His hepialus has two 

 hairy feelers, between which is the rudiment of a biiid 

 tongue ; and the antennx are moniliform. 



Gmelin, in the lalt edition of the Syfl. nat. endeavours 

 to reconcile the Fabrician genera as fubdivifions to the prin- 

 cipal Linnsan genns Jy/jul^na. His bombyces confiil of the 

 attaci, which have the wings expanded, and tiie bombyces 

 (llrittly fo) which have not the wings expanded, and thefe 

 latter are again arranged in fubdivilions in the following or- 

 der: lirll, thofe with reverfed wings, as in quercif'lia; fecond, 

 thofe with dcfledttd wings, as in hucephala and liele; thirds 

 thofe with incumbent wings, as in anttqua ; and fourth, thofe- 

 with convoluted wings, as in lellu. The four famlHcs, into 

 which Olivier feparates the bombyces, fcarcely differ from 

 the preceding ; they confill of thofe with expanded wings, 

 with wings reverfed, with wings bent down (defledted), and 

 with wings recovered (incumbent). 



The bombyces are to be confidered as a true natural fa- 

 mily of the moth tribe, which for the moft part may be 

 diilinguilhed by the cafual obferver, who will attend to the 

 ftrudiure of the antennx, the form of the body, the pofition 

 of the wings, and fome few other partic\ilars to be men- 

 tioned hereafter. The antennx, which are fihform, and 

 either peclinated or ciliated, differ greatly in the two fexes of 

 the fame fpecies ; the male being generally diilinguiflied by 

 having the antenna: much broader, or larger, than in the 

 other fcx. The thorax of the bombyx is rather m.ore bulk}-, 

 and the body thicker than in the nodlua:, efptcially in th.e 

 females. Thus far confiftcnt with the l^iunsan character ; 

 hut a flrici attention to the feelers and ftrufture of the 

 tongue, as Fabricius obferves, will be alfo neceffary to deter- 

 mine many of the bombyces, which approach fo clofely to 

 the nodtux as not to be accurately dijlinguifhed by any other 

 means. For this rcafon Fabricius is commendable in having 

 endeavoured to define the precife limits between the bom- 

 byces and iheir analogous tribes: his character is more defi- 

 nite than that which Linn:eus had previoufly alfigned to this 

 family. The difcrimiiiation of Fabricius is obvious in fepa- 

 rating the two tribes or genera of coffus and hepialus from 

 the bombyces, under which head Linnsus comprehends 

 them ; for thofe iiiftdts certainly form dillindl natural fa- 

 milies, both in their general appearance, their metamor- 

 phofes, chtir habit.s of life, and other peculiarities, from that 



which. 



