250 



the Bair {Zizyphus jujuba), both wild and cultivated kinds, and on 

 the Badaam or country almond (Terminalia catappa). Mr. IIu- 

 gon (see Journ. Asiat. Soc. vi. p. 32) states that it feeds, in Assam, 

 not only on the Moonga trees, but also on the former of those men- 

 tioned above, and on the Semal (Bombax heptaphyllum). Dr. Heifer 

 describes it as being taken upon and from other trees, and these are 

 transplanted on to the Assun tree {Terminalia alata), but that they 

 feed most commonly in the wild state on the Bair and Semal trees. 

 Mr. Hodgson again has discovered that its food is the Saul tree 

 {Shorea robusta), since writing which I have been informed by a friend 

 that in the Midnapore district the larva feeds upon the Saul tree 

 also. 



"Dr. Heifer (J. A. S. Beng. vi. p. 43) states that, 'according to 

 Michael Atkinson of Jungypore, this species cannot be domesticated, 

 because the moths take flight before the females are fecundated.' 

 Dr. Heifer's opinion does not bear out the truth of this remark ; and 

 I agree with him, as he further states, in continuation, that, having 

 kept them in a musquito curtain to prevent their escape, they were 

 readily impregnated by the males, and deposited thousands of eggs. 

 The moths no doubt, both male and female, will fly away if not con- 

 fined in any manner to prevent them, particularly the males, for the 

 sole purpose of seeking the females. I am of opinion that this 

 silkworm might be reared and domesticated with very little care and 

 attention. A female, for instance, produced from the cocoon, and 

 retained captive, can, as above stated, be readily impregnated by the 

 males, which are so eager for the intercourse, that I have at times 

 taken as many as from ten to fifteen individuals in the course of a 

 couple of hours, between the hours of two and four in the morning, 

 and that for three or four times in succession, with the aid of the 

 same decoy female. The moths, both male and female, live for 

 about ten days, if they are not allowed to approach each other for 

 the purpose of reproducing their species, and this without food of 

 any kind, seeing that they are not provided by nature with a mouth. 



" Mr. Hugon states that the natives consider there are two varieties 

 of this species, the Bhugy and Jharoo. I do not think so ; I be- 

 lieve them to be one and the same species. The larva sometimes, 

 for instance, when feeding on the common Bair of the jungles, is of 

 a very dark green colour, precisely that of the leaf itself, and might 

 by some be considered as a different species, when compared with 

 one that has fed on the Badaam {Terminalia catappa), which is of 

 a much lighter and prettier green, with a degree of transparency at 

 the same time, and a slight tinge of yellow pervading it. The fact 

 of the perfect insect being devoid of any mouth has led me to infer 

 that the secretion which it emits for the purpose of softening the 

 substance of the very hard cocoon from which it has to make its escape 

 is voided from the abdomen ; and when effected, it has to turn itself 

 round in the cocoon to enable it to set to work, with its two fore- 

 feet, which are provided with extremely strong and curved claws, 

 and, thread by thread, works for itself an opening, through which, 



