SATURN ID AE. Gleneral Topics. By 13r. A. Seitz. 
31G 
Aglia) one can burst open by pressing with one’s fingers on the sides of the abdomen of the freshly captured 
insect, when a distinct crack is to lie heard. By the aid of this facilitation of flying the Saturnidae may 
often fly for many hours without requiring any pause for rest. The stroke of the wings is long and strong, the 
flight itself impetuous, swift and irregular, only in very stout-bodied 22 it is, owing to their weight, slow, 
whizzing and straight. These $9 also show a great disinclination to flying by day. Females of Bunaea alcinoe 
which I threw up into the air dropped down to the ground without making any attempt to fly. Not any species 
is known to me to take up water or food as an imago. The q generally dies soon after the copulation which 
takes place once in freedom, perhaps with few exceptions; the $2 deposit their eggs, as far as is known, 
in whole layings or at least (as in Aglia) in several lots, and the larvae generally stay together for some time 
in their youth. The young larvae often exhibit an exterior quite different from the adult larvae, and many 
Saturnid larvae being later on variegated, are black in their youth, then they get variegated knobs, or they 
even alter their shape by casting hooks, prongs, or fur-hairs, and becoming smooth thereby. 
The geographical distribution of the Saturnidae over the world has been dealt with in general in Vol. X, 
]). 49b. The apportionment of the 34 genera and 400 forms within the Ethiopian Region is effected by the 
character of the landscape which we referred to above. Thus there is a majority in South and East Africa 
compared to the rainy forest districts in the west, where the great increase of Heterocera from other families 
darkens the occurrence of the Saturnidae. It can also be stated already to-day, that the progress of culture, 
the import of fruit-trees and of such affording shade, the cultivation of the country by parks, alleys, 
bosquets etc. effects an increase of the Saturnidae, in contrast with the decrease of other lepidoptera by the 
advance of cultivation. We have already mentioned above that some Saturnidae have stripped the trees of 
such fruit-plantations of their leaves [Gynanisa maja near Fort Napier). 
Yet the breeding of many species is by no means easy. Some are extremely sensitive to the food offered 
them afresh and drying very quickly in the frequently dry climate of Africa. In the dry season at any rate few 
larvae seem to develop as elsewhere too. and the pupal stage is even in the same species in the different 
generations of a very different duration, in order to postpone the deposit of eggs into the season most favourable 
for the young larvae. Thus the November breed of Gynanisa maja in Natal already yields the imago after G 
weeks, whereas the pupae of March only creep out in October, after G months’ pupal stage. 
The imagines rarely have a proboscis, and the palpi are very short, if not differently mentioned. The 
antennae of the A are often long pectinated, in many groups fourfold, thus with 2 branches on each side of 
the antenna, and in the $ one group of them is often shorter than the other. On the tibiae there are 
occasionally claws, the presence of which, however, may also vary in allied species. The hindwing invariably 
lacks a frenulum. The forewing is always without veins 9 and 11 . The cell is not quite closed in some groups; 
vein 5 rises in both wings far in front, vein 10 is somewhat variable, and some specific differences have been 
based upon this, e. g. in Nud. oubie and zaddachi which are not to be regarded as mere varieties. 
Beside the size of the eyespots on the hindwing, also the shape of the interior line of the hindwing varies 
very much, somewhat less the exterior line. The size may increase to as much as 50 percent beyond that of the 
smallest specimens *). All these differences have caused a very great number of denominations, many of which 
are questionable and may not be justified. The definition of the genera is rather uncertain, and almost best 
to be founded upon the scheme of markings, for the neuration varies so much that e. g. in the subgenus 
Aurivillius of Nudaurelia, in spite of the few species, three groups could be separated, according as vein 10 
of the forewing rises before or behind 7 or separately from the cell, whilst at the same time the species 
are so much alike that they can hardly be regarded as forms. 
In accordance with Aubiviluo we divide the Saturnidae into 3 subfamilies: 
1. The upper portion of the cross-vein of the forewing between veins 7 and G is veryslanting and often 
long, it forms strictly spoken the straight continuation of the anterior edge of the cell. Veins 5 and G 
are much less distant from each other, veins 7 and 8 are invariably stalked. 
a) Disc-al cell on both wings between veins 4 and 5 open. I. Subfamily: Attacinae. 
b) JDiscal cell closed. 2 . Subfamily: Saturniinae. 
II. The upper portion of the cross-vein of the forewing between veins 7 and G is short or absent. Between veins 
4 and G the cross-vein is rather straight; veins 5 and 6 distantly separated. 
3. Subfamily: Ludiinae. 
The last genus of the Saturniinae: Cyrtogone and all the Ludiinae make a very different impression, although part 
of them still exhibit the eyespots of the Saturnidae. These eyespots, if not otherwise mentioned, show a small hyaline spot, 
the variegated rings around it are always enumerated in succession from inside. 
*) In order to save space, small specimens were mostly figured, so far as suitable specimens were on hand. 
