BOM 



which ought to be confidercd as the natural faniily of bom- 

 byces. 



The infefts of the bombyx trihe never fly except in the 

 evening. During the day time tliey fccrete themfelves un- 

 der the leaves, or beneath the branches, in the clefts of trees, 

 where they may remain fccurc till about fun-fet, at which time 

 they appear to be on the alert, at firll crawling about the 

 branchts, then fluttering their wings, and becoming brilkcr 

 in all their motions as the evening comes on. The larger 

 fort of moths, which we fee firll llarting from the woods or 

 hedges after fome of the gcometne, are the fii'tfts, the 

 Fabrician hepiali, which fly fwiftly as their trivial name im- 

 plies, but low or near the furface of the gromid ; thefe at 

 twilight are fuccecded by the bumbyces and noituae, whofe 

 flight is more elevated. They continue to fport about till 

 it becomes quite dark. The males of the bombyccs are 

 commonly firlt upon the wing in learch of the females, 

 wljich latter arc in fome few fpecits entirely deftitutc of 

 wings, or at hall have only the rudiments of thejn clofc to 

 the thorax ; in which cafe the female waits upon the trees or 

 herbage for the arrival of the male ; the female of bombyx 

 antiqna, the vapourer moth, is a Uriking proof of this, for 

 it has fo little the appearance of a moth that any one, except 

 an tntomologilt, would millake >X for an apterous or wing- 

 lefs infeft. 'I'hofe females which have wings are commonly 

 larger even than the males. 



The bombyces are produced from a larva, or as it is more 

 ufually termed by common obfervers, a caterpillar. This 

 is of a long cyhndrical form, having in fome fpecies afmooth 

 flcin, or in others more or Icfs tuberculatcd ; fometimes 

 the fl<in is covered with a fine filky down, or with hairs ; 

 and fome of the larger kinds are armed with fpines and 

 brillles. All tlielarvx of the bombyces fubfill on vegetables. 

 Their jaws are llrong, and of a horny texture, and below 

 them is a fmall opening, through which the creature draws 

 the filky thread o! fo much utility in its general economy. 

 Mofl of tliefe larva; have fixteen feet, fome have only fourteen 

 fei.t, and others no more than twelve, fix of which are hooked, 

 and fituated on the three firll annulations near the head, the 

 others towards tiic lower extremity of the body are (hort, 

 broad, and very different in ilruftnre. 



The greater number of fpecies in the~ bombyx tribe, when 

 in the larva ilate, lead a folitary life, in which cafe they 

 fcparate as foon as they are hatched from the eggs, and 

 crawl about to provide for themfelves, the fmalleft of thefe 

 even being able to obtain its own fnbfillence ; they can eat 

 as readily, and fpin, or throw out the filky thread with as 

 much facility as when grown bigger. The latter is of con- 

 fidcrable utility to the larva, for when it wiflies to defcend 

 from one branch of the trse or bufli to another, inflead of 

 being obliged to puvfue a circuitous courfe, by crawling or 

 walking, it need onlj fallen one end of the fillien thread to 

 any particular fpot and lower itfclf by its aflillance to the 

 branch defired j or when fulpended mid-way between the 

 branches, it can pafs alide with a fwing to any other point 

 within a eouvcuient dillance. In like manuer, when obferved 

 by birds or other enemies, it can drop in au inllant and 

 elude the enemy, wsiiting concealed below among the leaves 

 or on tlie ground till the danger is over, and then remount- 

 ing to the former fpot by the aid of this thread. This is a 

 provifion of nature foi the ftcnrity of the larvx of the bom- 

 byces, in common with tliat of other Icpidopterous infefts. 



Some Ipeeits of the bombyces live in focii ties, as may be 

 obfervtd, for infl;anee, in bomlyx m-ujlna of entomologllls, 

 (the kcL-y-moth of Englifh coileftors). The iarvse of this 

 fpecies, by their united labours, fpin a capacious habitation, 

 in which the infant brood is hatch.ed from the egg, and after 



BOM 



"tmdergolng their feveral transformations finally tecoi»e 



moths. 



Like other larvce of the moth tribe, thofe of the bom- 

 byces call their fl<in feveral times. When full grown, and 

 approaching the pupa Hate, thofe of the bombyx kind fpiu 

 a fort of vveb, in which we find the moil valuable filk pro- 

 duced by thefe creatures at any time of their lives. The 

 filk fpun by the hairy larvne is obltrved to be of little value, 

 bccaufe the creature interweaves it with the hairs it plucks 

 off its flvin for this purpofe. The common filk worm {bom- 

 bvx mor'i), whofe cocoon coafills of the moll valuable kind 

 of filk, as is well known, has the fliin perfeftly fmooth, or 

 free from hair. There are certain fpecies of the larger bum- 

 byces, the larvje of which have fmooth fltins, but Hill befet 

 with annular feries of fpinesi or brillles, that produce very 

 llrong filk, and are reared with the view of obtaining the 

 cocoons for the manufafture or filk lu the Eaft Indies. The 

 breed of thefe ufeful infeSls has long been cultivated in 

 India, although tlie filk produced from them is very little, 

 if at all, known in Europe. SeeSiix. The bombyces re- 

 main in the pupa Hate for a certain time, varying according to 

 the fpecies, fome only a few days or weeks, others fix or 

 twelve months, two years, or even three. The fame day 

 that the creatures emerge from the pupa ftate they are in a 

 condition to perpetuate their race. Almoll immediately after 

 coupling the miales die ; the females live long enough to de- 

 pofit the eggs in a proper place for their feeurity, and where 

 the infant brood may find iubfiftence, after which they 

 perifli likewife. 



The fpecies of the bombyx tribe are numerous. Thofe 

 already defcribed by naturahlls amount to a large number ; 

 and there are, in the cabinets of the curious, many more, 

 efpecially of the extra-European fpecies, that have never 

 been defcribed ; even in the colleitions of this country, thofe 

 of the latter defeription are numerous. The following are 

 defcribed by Linnceus and Fabricius, and enumerated by 

 Gmelin : atlas, hefperus, aurotus, cecropia, paphia, poly, 

 phemus, cypria, cytherea, mulitta, promothea, ei-ythrins, 

 ianus, megaera, hippodamia, niftitans, femiramis, boreas, 

 luna, epimethea, argus, pavonia, minor, media, major, 

 achelous, angulata, liberia, tau, jo, abas, falmonea, profer- 

 pina, fenellra, penelope, tyrrhea, peifpicna, armida, mili- 

 taris, callalia, populifolia, quercifoha, illicifolia, promula, 

 caffandra, capenfis, aluco, auft;ralafia;, quadricin£ta, rubi, 

 pruni, amphione, potatoria, ocularia, hibifci, cynira, cerafi, 

 pini, trifolii, quercus, ftigma, lufca, dumeti, catax, lanef- 

 tris, vinula, fagi, verficolor, mori, populi, eueria neuftria, 

 tricolor, callrenfis, franconica, taraxaconis, cinerea, mah, 

 avellanae, proccfiionea, pityocampa, rurea, atra, rufa, la- 

 gopus, imperialis, crafficornis, hyphinoe, cyane, bucephala, 

 helops, olcagina, caja, pudica, cafta, maculofa, virgo, me- 

 nete, deflorata, tarqninia, tarquinius, hebe, villica, planta- 

 ginis, vittata, monacha, flava, lutea, difpar, amafis, chry- 

 forrhoca, auriflua, bicolor, falicis, caflTmia, centrolinea men- 

 dica, advena, rutila, lentifera, cratacgi, eridanus, tibialis 

 nitidula, plumigcra, obfoleta, corones feftiva, dryas, coryli, 

 ^ flavomaculata, nuda, furcula, curtula, reclufa anachoreta, 

 anaftomofis, telludo, afella, bufo, cippus, pudibundus, fco- 

 pularia, faleelina, tremula, caruleocephala, argentina, de- 

 cora, rufa, didxa, elegans tritophus, ziczac, dromedarius, 

 terebra, coffus, palpina trepida, querna, gnoma, arenacea, 

 mono, rnbea, alph;ea, purpurea, ceraria, murina, nebulofa, 

 ftrigofa albida, aulica, helvola, undulata. lubricipes, lota,lxta, 

 communimacula, comprefla, milhauferi, fprcta, lincus, ftri- 

 gula, begga, vnigrum, ruffula, rufina, grammica, ftriata, 

 matronula, parthenias, leponna, celfia, dioue, capucina, 

 camelina, oo, aefculi, antiqua gonollignia, paradoxa, zona, 



pylotis, 



