THE BOMB YC/NA. I 1 7 
animals suffer from the irritation of the hairs if they get into 
the eyes or up the nostrils. 
The pretty caterpillars of the Vapourer moths — Orgyiq, antiqua 
— with their tufts of variously-coloured hairs and harlequin look, 
are very common in the summer time on all sorts of trees and 
shrubs, for there are many broods of them during the year. The 
larvae make a cocoon, but as they only have a very small quantity 
of silk, they mix their long and pretty hairs with it and sometimes 
unite some leaves together to cover all. 
The moth flies two or three weeks after the metamorphosis 
of the caterpillar into the chrysalis. The male has a thin body, 
and pectinated antennae, and its wings are of a brown fawn colour, 
with some darkish rays, and a small white spot ; but the female 
is a brown insect, having very rudimentary and stumpy wings. 
She moves but with difficulty, for her legs are hardly strong 
enough for the distended body. Certainly, she is no beauty, yet 
she has abundance of admirers, and is always at home. In the 
engraving one of these wingless creatures is to be seen on the 
tree laying its eggs, and many of the well-known hairy cater- 
pillars are on the leaves. 
The pupa of the female is black, and has many tufts of hair 
upon it, and the perfect insect escapes through the imperfect 
cocoon very easily. She then commences to lay the eggs upon 
the silky outside, and she never leaves them. The eggs are 
greenish at first, and soon become white, with a faint green 
spot on the top. They are tub-shaped, and may number 200 
or more. 
There is another moth belonging to this group of Bombycina , 
whose metamorphoses are as curious as those of the kind just 
mentioned ; indeed, there are two genera of a family called the 
Psychid(E , the females of which are not only without wings, but 
have neither legs nor antennae. In fact, the female moth is a 
helpless egg bag, which never quits the case or covering in 
which it was bred. It is a curious notion to call these moths 
by the name of Psyche, but really the males 'are very pretty. 
They are small ; their bodies are thin, and covered with long 
silken hairs ; their wings are almost transparent, for they only 
have a few grey, brown, and black scales upon them ; and they 
