parts of Germany, Italy, France, Ac, but not 
yet observed in England. It measures about 
six inches in extent of wings, and is varied 
by a most beautiful assortment of the most 
sober colours, consisting of different shades 
of deep and light grey, black, brown, &c. On 
the middle of each wing is an eye-shaped 
spot, having the disk black, shaded on one 
side with blue, surrounded with red-brown, 
and the whole included by a circle of black. 
Lastly, all the wings are bordered by a deep 
edging of very pale brown, with a whiter 
line immediately adjoining to the darker part 
of the wing: the antennae are finely pectinat- 
ed. The caterpillar, which feeds on the ap- 
ple, pear, &c. is hardly less beautiful than 
the insect itself: it is of a fine apple or yel- 
lowish-green colour, with each segment of 
the body ornamented by a row of upright 
prominences of a bright blue colour, with 
black radiated edges, and surrounded by 
long black filaments, each of which termi- 
nates in a clavaled. tip. This larva, when, 
ready for its change, envelops itself in an oval 
web with a pointed extremity, and trans- 
forms itself into a large short chrysalis,, out of 
which afterwards emerges the moth. 
The phalama pavonia minor, or smaller 
peacock-moth, is a native of England, and is 
commonly called the emperor moth. In 
every respect, except size, it so greatly re- 
sembles the former, that Linnaeus chose to 
consider it as a permanent variety only of 
the same species. The larva and pupa are 
also of the same appearance with those of 
the preceding, butona much smaller scale. 
Tne bombyces constitute a very numerous 
tribe, of which the phaiaena caja or great 
tiger-moth may serve as an example. This 
species is one of the larger English moths, 
and is of a fine pale cream-colour, with cho- 
colate-brown bars and spots; the lower wings 
red, and black spots; the thorax chocolate- 
brown, with a red collar round the neck ; and 
the body red, with black bars. The caterpillar 
is of a deep blown, with white specks; ex- 
tremely hairy, and feeds on various plants. 
It changes into a chrysalis in June, and the 
fly appears in July. 
Phalama fuscicauda or the brown-tail moth 
is remarkable for the ravages which its cater- 
pillar commits, by destroying the foliage of 
trees and hedges, and reducing them to a 
perfectly bare appearance. The moth itself 
is about a third part less than that of a silk- 
worm, and is of a fine satiny white, except 
the hinder part of the body, which is of a deep 
brown. 'I he caterpillar is brown, with fer- 
ruginous hairs, a row of white spots along 
each side, and two red spots on the lower 
part of the back : it is of a gregarious nature, 
vast numbers residing together under one 
common web : they are hatched early in 
autumn, from eggs laid by the parent moths, 
and immediately form for themselves a small 
web, and begin feeding on the foliage of tin- 
tree or shrub on which they were placed : 
they marshal themselves with great regula- 
rity for th : s purpose in rows, and at first de- 
vour only the upper pellicle and the green 
parenchyma of the leaves, and in the even- 
ing retire to their web. In about three weeks 
they cast their skin, and afterwards proceed 
to feed as before, enlarging their web from 
time to time, and forming it on all sides as 
strong and secure as possible. In this they 
remain the whole winter in a state of torpi- 
PH ALTON, 
dity, HI! being enlivened by the warmth of 
the returning spring, they again issue from 
their covering, and being now grown stronger, 
begin to devour the whole substance of the 
leaves, ihstead of contenting themselves with 
the upper part as in their very young state, 
lire destruction which they sometimes cause 
to the verdure of the country may be judged 
of by their ravages in the year 1782, when, 
according to the account of the ingenious 
Mr. Curtis, author of the Flora Londinensis, 
&c. in many parishes about London sub- 
scriptions were opened, and the poor people 
employed, to cut off and collect the- webs at 
one shilling per bushel, which were burned, 
under the inspection of the church-wardens, 
overseers, or beadles, of the respective pa- 
rishes. At the first onset of this business, 
Mr. Curtis assures 11 s, he was informed that 
fourscore bushels were collected in one day 
in the parish of Clapham alone. When these 
caterpillars are arrived at full growth, which 
is usually about the beginning of June, each 
spins itself a separate web, in which it changes 
to a dark-brown chrysalis, out of which in the 
beginning of July proceeds the moth. The 
ravages of these insects in the current year, 
180b, have been scarcely less than those 
above recorded. 
But of all the moths of the tribe bombyx 
the phalama mori, or silkworm moth, is by 
far the most important. This. is a whitish 
moth, with a broad pale-brown bar across 
each of the upper wings. The caterpillar or 
larva, emphatically known by the title of the 
-silkworm, is, when lull grown, nearly three 
inches long, and of a yellowish -grey colour ; 
on the upper part of the last joint of the body 
is a horn-like process, as ip many of the 
sphinges. It feeds, as every one knows, on 
the leaves of the white mulberry, in defect of 
which may be substituted the black mul- 
berry, and even, in some instances, the 'let- 
tuce and a few other plants. The silkworm 
remains in its larva state about six weeks, 
changing its skin four times during that pe- 
riod, and, like other caterpillars, abstaining 
from food for some time before each change. 
When full-grown, the animal entirely ceases 
to feed, and begins to form itseli a loose en- 
v elopement of silken fibres in some conve- 
nient spot which it has chosen for that pur- 
pose; and afterwards proceeds to enwrap it- 
self in a much closer covering, forming an 
oval yellow silken case or ball, about the size 
of a pigeon’s egg, in which it changes to a 
chrysalis, and after lying thus inclosed for 
the’space of about fifteen days, gives birth to 
the moth. This however is always carefully 
prevented when the animals are reared for 
the purpose of commerce, the moth greatly 
injuring the silk of the ball by discharging a 
quantity of coloured fluid before it leaves the 
cell: the silk-balls are therefore exposed to 
such a degree of heat, as to kill the inclossd 
chrysalides, a few only being saved for the 
breed of the following year. The moth, 
when hatched, is a very short-lived animal, 
breeding soon after its exclusion; and when 
the females have 1. id their eggs, they, as well 
as the males, survive but a very short time. 
The length of the silken fibre or thread 
drawn by the silkworm may be supposed to 
differ considerably in different silk- balls. 
According to Boyle, as quoted by Derham, a 
lady, on making the experiment, found the 
length of the ball to be considerably more 
359 
than 300 yards, 'though the weight was only 
two grains and a half, life abbe La Bluclre 
informs us, that of two balls one measured 924 
feet, and the other 930. It may be proper to 
add, that the silk throughout its whole length 
is double, or composed of two conjoined or 
agglutinated filaments. See Silk Manu- 
facture. 
In the next divison, or noctua', stands the ' 
beautiful phalama nupta, a moderately large ■" 
species, with the upper wings of a iir.e grey 
colour, elegantly clouded and varied witii 
shades and lines of dark -brown, &c..and the 
under wings of a vivid crimson, with two 
broad transverse black bars ; the body is 
grey, but white underneath. The caterpillar, 
which is of a pale flesh coloured grey, is dis- 
tinguished by a dorsal tubercle on the fore 
part of the body, and seeds chiefly on the 
willow; it changes to a chrysalis in July, 
and the moth appears in August and Sep- 
tember. The division noctua:, like that of 
bombyx, is extremely numerous. 
As an example of the geomelrae, we may 
adduce a very elegant moth often seen to- 
wards the middle of summer on the elder, 
and called phalama sambucaria ; it is mode - 
rately large, of a pale sulphur-colour, with 
angular wings, marked by a narrow trans- 
verse brown line or streak. It proceeds from 
a green caterpillar, which, like those of the 
rest of this -section, walks in a peculiar man- 
ner, viz. by raising up the body at each pro- 
gressive movement into the form of an arcu 
or loop, the extremities nearly approaching 
each other. It changes in May and June into 
a black chrysalis, out of which in June or 
July proceeds the moth. 
To this division also belongs that beautiful 
insect called the currant-bush moth, or pha- 
laena grossulariata, so frequently seen in gar- 
dens in the month of July. It has somewhat 
the appearance of a butterfly, with rounded 
white wings, marked by numerous black 
spots ; the upper pair being still farther deco- 
rated by a pair of deep-yellow bands: the 
body also is of a deep golden yellow, with 
black spots. The caterpillar is of similar co- 
lour, and the chrysalis black. 
In the division tortrices, so named from 
the faculty which their caterpillars possess of 
rolling or twisting the leaves of the vegetables 
they inhabit, into a tubular form, stands the 
elegant phalama prasinana, an inhabitant of 
the oak, and sometimes of the alder: the 
upper wings are of. fine green, with two ob- 
lique yellow' stripes; the lower wings pale or 
whitish. Tne 'Caterpillar is of a yellowish" 
green, with white specks, and the end ot the 
body orange-coloured. 
In the division pyrales stands the phalama 
farinalis, distinguished by the polished sur- 
face of its wings, which have a large glaucous- 
brown middle area or patch, while the re- 
mainder is marked by whitish streaks. This 
insect, when sitting, has an obtusely trian- 
gular outline, and the abdomen is turned up 
at the tip. 
The division called tineas, comprehends 
those moths w hich are in general of a small 
size, though often of very elegant colours. 
Of this tribe is the phalsna padella : it is of a 
pearly white colour, with very numerous 
black spots: its caterpillar is gregarious’, ap- 
pearing in great quantities on various sorts of 
fruit-trees during the decline of summer, and 
