SCALE^WINGED INSECTS 
323 
fore wings, and rounded hind wings. A species 
belonging to this family, with green fore wings 
and brown hind wings, may beshaken fromevery 
oak-tree in summer, and at the same time num- 
bers of its little green caterpillars will drop them- 
selves down, and remain swinging at the end of 
a thread, till they think that the danger is past, 
when they climb up again. 
The Clothes-MOTHS, familiar to every- 
body, are representatives of an enormous family 
of small moths, comprising nearly two-thirds 
of the British species, but only a few live in 
houses. Most have narrow wings with long 
fringes, and many feed in tortuous galleries 
which they eat in tlie substance of leaves. 
Some are among the smallest moths known. 
The White Plume-moth, which may be noticed floating about in weedy places like a 
piece of thistle-down, is a representative of a small family in which the fore wings are divided 
into three separate feathers, and the hind wings into two. The other species are brown, and 
smaller. When at rest, they look like small daddy-long-legs. 
The Twenty-plume Moth is a yellowish-grey species, less than an inch in expanse, often 
to be seen at rest on windows or palings, 
■ It might easily be taken for a small looper- 
moth, but that each wing is split into six 
feathers. 
Thcto by C. N, Mavroyeni] 
CYPRESS-MOTHS 
The inside of the cocoons^ showing the pupis 
\_Smyr 
Silkworms 
We have now completed a rapid survey 
of the principal groups of Butterflies and 
Moths, and may fittingly conclude this part 
of our subject by giving a short account of 
the historyof Silkworms — insects which far 
surpass all other butterflies and moths in 
their importance to mankind, on account of 
the valuable product which is obtained from 
their cocoons. The industry has been 
carried on from time immemorial in China; 
and many old Chinese works contain in- 
teresting particulars, especially relating to 
the rearing of silkworms by the queens and 
their ladies, for silk was probably a royal 
monopoly in old times. These Chinese 
records date back to about 2200 B.C., when 
the silk industry was already flourishing; 
but, according to the usually received tradi- 
tion, silkworms were first reared during the 
reign of the Emperor Hwang-te (2640 B.C.) 
by his queen. The following extracts from 
the “ Le-he Book of Ceremonies,” written 
between 204 B.C. and 135 B.C., and quoted 
by Horsfield and Moore in their “ Catalogue 
of the Lepidoptera of the East India 
i 
L .j 
Phm by C. N, Mavroyeni] [Smyrna 
CYPRESS-CATERPILLARS 
When they leave their cocoons, 'he young caterpillars run up the tree to feed 
