No. 2. ] Wild Silk Insects of India. 



The following 1 account of the rearing 1 of the caterpillar in Mussoorie 

 is taken from Captain Hutton's writings as given in Moore's Catalogue 

 of Lepidoptera in the East India Museum :— ■ 



" Moths, found in coitu in the middle of April, each laid, in the course of a few- 

 days, about 300 eggs which are about tbe size of mustard seed. After depositing their 

 eggs the moths rapidly died off and the eggs began to hatch about the end of the 

 month. The larvae when first hatched are about a quarter of an inch in length, 

 hairy, and of a pale rufous red with a single black band across the middle of the 

 body, and a small black transverse mark on the anterior segment ; along the back are 

 two rows of small tubercles and another along each side, from each of which sprin°- 

 a few short hairs, the base of which forms a small black dot. There is also an anal 

 tubercle, larger than the others, and placed between the two last tubercles of the dorsal 

 rows ; the head is black. . . . The first molt commenced when sis days old, and 

 this occupied three days, so that at the end of nine days the larva appeared in its second 

 stage. The black transverse band upon the body had disappeared, but the head still 

 remained of that color, and the rest of the body was hairy and rufous, the tubercles 

 being black on the summit and more prominent ; pro-legs brown. The period between 

 each change was about ten days in some specimens, but varied in others between that and 

 shorter periods, . . In the third stage the caterpillar appeared of a bright rufous 

 color, the black dots, or tubercles, being larger and more prominent, but there were no 

 black bands. In the fourth stage the change was still more remarkable, for the cater- 

 pillar now appeared of a beautiful apple green, each tubercle headed with bright orange, 

 except the four which spring from the second and third segments, which are ringed 

 with black and crowned with pale yellow ; and the anal and two posterior tubercles, 

 which are green throughout. From each tubercle springs a small tuft of hair, the 

 centre one of each being longer than the others ; the head and pro-legs brown. Alone 

 each side is a line, which is red above and yellow below, and the spiracles are red ; 

 there is a line of very small yellow dots along each side between the rows of tubercles. 

 In the fifth stage the colors are the same as they are in the fourth, also in the sixth 

 and seventh stages ; but the caterpillar increases rapidly in size, and is most beautiful 

 and delicate in appearance, with a semi-transparency of hue which makes it look some- 

 thing like waxwork. One of these commenced spinning its cocoon on the 17th of 

 July, being then about forty-six or forty-seven days old, and the remainder after the 

 interval of a day or two ; that is, on the 19th, 20th, and 25th July. The cocoon is 

 formed of coarse brown silken threads, closely interwoven and of an ovate form. It is 

 inclosed among the leaves of the tree, which are, in fact, glued closely round it. It is 

 hard and not furnished interiorly with a soft silken bed, the chrysalis lying within a 

 hard and hollow chamber. The chrysalis remained thus until the 14th August, when 

 the one which had turned on the 17th July produced a perfect female after a period 

 of twenty-nine days. Another, which had turned on the 19th July, came forth a 

 male on the 16th August, showing the time to be pretty uniform. A large caterpillar, 

 however, found in the forest on the 16th July, turned to a chrysalis on the 24th of 

 that month ; but, instead of coming forth in the autumn, it remained in the chrysalis 

 state throughout the winter, as did some others, coming out in the following summer, 

 namely on the 11th, 14th, and 18th of June." 



Hutton also describes the manner in which the moth works its way 

 out of the cocoon by the aid of its wing spurs, which seem to have a 

 cutting edge and to be used to sever the silk strands of the cocoon. 



The moths from which the figures were made were determined by 

 Mr. H. J. Ehves; the cocoon was furnished by the late Mr. Otto Moller. 



