SATURNIDAE. General Topics. By Dr. A. Seitz. 
31b 
the copying of a dry beech-leaf by the .$ of Acjlia tan is increased by this insect preferably settling down at 
the foot of the forest-trees on the place where dry. scattered leaves frequently hang about. Thus also the South 
African Nudaurelia wahlbergi likes to conceal itself at the roots of the trees, where the yellow leaves blown 
away by the wind are lying, and Tagorapsis nataiensis which 1 took from the ground and tried to place higher 
up would not stay there, but wandered down the trunk, until they sat again at the root or even, like a leaf 
that had been blown there, flat on the ground. 
In accordance with our assumption for some Indian Saturnidae (Vol. X. 498), the principal protection 
of many species is also in Africa their size; expanses of as much as 18 cm are not rare, and though the largest 
Indian Attacus are not quite attained, yet the $ of Imbrasia deyrollei have an expanse of 20 cm and more, 
and large specimens of Epiphora ploetzi are almost of the same size. Birds and small beasts of prey (such as 
foxes, civet-cats etc.) will of course not be frightened by the large size of insects, especially if they are not 
protected bv any defensive capacitybut the most dangerous enemies of the moths are also in Africa the rear- 
mice, animals of such great sensitiveness that even the mere collision with gigantic lepidoptera is avoided 
by them. 
The larvae of the African Saturnidae are incompletely known, yet single interesting peculiarities may 
be briefly referred to here. Beside the relatively rare green protective colour, we mostly meet with distinct 
warning colours. Above all the dangerous burning larvae of course exhibit an unmistakable defensive or warning 
colour. The character of this colouring as a means of warning is most ambiguously proved in an African species 
by its inconstancy. The adult larva of Ludia smilax may be red with blue dots, but also orange with thick 
black dots, or black with scarlet transverse ringlets; it is thus entirely diversified, but invariably decorated 
with loud contrasting colours, so that the purpose of the colouring to attract attention in any way is quite 
doubtless. 
Such a defensive colour we also find in the larva of Nudaurelia wahlbergi B-sd. living on oaks. On its 
jet-black ground there are orange cones on hemochrome spots. These cones are pointed and rather stiff, and 
besides set with secondary bristles and small points, whereby the insect looks like a variegated spined Physalis. 
In quite a similar way the larva of Bunaea cajfraria shows golden yellow points on a dark ground, which 
however are not spined otherwise. The larva of Argema mimosae in its youth shows reel, later on green and 
yellow belts; but the most remarkable is a double row of green, palisade-like cones with yellow bristles: in the 
adult insect these cones may attain the size of 1 centimeter and project above the dorsum as truncate, 
thick cones. 
A fundamental difference is manifested in the way of pupating by a great many African Saturnidae. 
The well-known Indian and American Saturnidae pupate in cocoons which may be very different, either stiff 
and comma-shaped ( Rhodinia ), or oviform (Antheraea mylitta), reticularlv pierced ( Cricula ), paper-like (Aciias). 
supplying serviceable silk ( Philosamia ) etc. But neither from America nor India any Saturnid is known to me 
that changes into its chrysalis in the soil without any web or tegument, as it was observed with Gynanisa, 
Bunaea, Urota, Nudaurelia and others, only the Ludia make a cocoon intermixed with their horribly burning 
hairs, and the Argema weave a dense, felt-like, glossy silvery cocoon with stigmata and a correctly fitted 
drainage. 
The consequence of it is also a different constitution of the pupa, in webless species. Already in the 
general topics to the Saturnidae in the Indian Part (Vol. X) I described the epidermis of these pupae as an 
extremely hard and very thick cover being as smooth as porcelain, the surface of which affords a good protection 
against the attack of the African ants gnawing through everything, the incisors of which glide off on the smooth 
pupal mail. The pupae are mostly of the usual shape, though some exhibit lateral points of the head or a very 
long spike of the cremaster. 
As to the habits of the African Saturnidae not very much is known, nearly all the insects belonging 
hereto are nocturnal, at least the ()nlv far in the south of the African Continent where the sunlight is of a less 
dazzling brightness and the climatic conditions are more like those of the palearctic regions, we also find again 
species (such as Pseudaphelia apollinaris) the AS °f which are distinctly day-flyers, as in Europe the Aglia 
tau and Eudia pavonia. In the same way as with us the A lepidoptera make after the $2 at very great distances, 
aided by their most complicatedly built antennae. According to Fawcett, it suffices to expose a single $ of 
Gynanisa maja in a cage on the verandah to entice any number of AS, dozens of which are then swarming 
around the But whilst in the mostly monophagous Bomoycidae (such as Sericaria mori which in nature 
almost exclusively falls upon mulberry trees) also the 9 'requires an intense smelling activity in order to be able 
to discover the detached and in some districts almost entirely absent food-trees from the distance, for which 
also the $$ need strong antennal dents, most of the Saturnidae are polyphagous and their $$ have filiform, 
often rather stunted antennae. 
The life of the Saturnidae is frequently very short. The $$ are often already paired when their wings 
are hardly extended: the A A start in their first flying hour for their nuptial flight, and in doing so often intensely 
puff up a flying vesiele which sometimes fills up the whole abdomen of the AS an d which (for instance in 
