94 
INSECTS. 
against these contingencies. It has arranged stiff, springy bristles round the 
orifice, each pointing outwards, gathered in at their tips, so that unwelcome visitors 
cannot gain an entrance. But beyond all these interesting features, the perfect 
insects are themselves sufficient to enlist our admiration. The enormous, strong 
fore-wings with prominent anterior angles; the rich browns, purples, and greys 
in every shade and gradation; the large crescent-shaped or eye-like blotch on 
both fore and hind-wing render the members of this family not easily to be 
mistaken for any other lepidopterous insects. True, the eye-like blotches recall 
to mind those of the peacock-butterfly, but the stout, woolly bodies, the plumose 
antennse, and the feathered legs of the emperor-moths will show clearly enough 
that the resemblance is but superficial, and that there is no close relationship 
between them. The males fly swiftly, with a somewhat erratic flight in the 
broad daylight; and if the female, held captive in some receptacle, be placed in 
the open woods, many of the former sex will eagerly gather round the cage, 
and thus themselves fall victims to the net of the naturalist. There are many 
varieties included in the family Saturniidce, though mention can be made of only 
a few. The common emperor - moth (Saturnia carpini), one of the dwarfs of 
the family, is abundant in England, where, in the heather-districts, the beautiful 
emerald larva, studded with rose or golden-yellow warts, may often be discovered 
wandering over some open sandy space or footpath. It is, however, at times 
scarcely distinguishable as it nestles amongst the heather-stems, since the rosy 
warts on the back and sides assimilating closely with the pink heather-blossoms 
secure it from observation. The moth itself—smaller and darker in the male sex 
—is of a deep purple brown. The fore-wings, richly variegated with greys, are 
bordered with a snow-white fringe, while the hind-pair are orange margined with 
brown. Both fore and hind-wings bear a black eye-like blotch, ringed with a 
narrow line of blue in the centre. The tough and dry empty cocoon may often 
be seen spun up amongst the heather-stems. The common emperor is found all 
through Europe and in Northern and Western Asia, while a much larger form, 
the peacock-moth (S. pyri), is not uncommon in Southern Europe, and has been 
caught as far north as Paris. Passing on to the Chinese oak silk-moth ( S. pernyi), 
we find that its chief interest lies in the fact of the commercial value of its cocoon; 
a value which lias not been fully recognised for more than thirty or forty years. 
The Abbe Perny, from whom it derives its scientific name, was the first to 
introduce it to the notice of European silk-merchants, and from him we have 
a description of the method adopted by the Chinese in breeding and rearing 
the larvae and winding off the silken treasure. Coppices of dwarf oak-trees are 
cultivated, the earth is smoothed and cleansed with great care beneath the trees, 
while attendants are always at hand to shift the larvae from one bush to another, 
or restore them to the foliage when they have fallen to ground. The best of the 
cocoons from last year’s cultivation are placed in a carefully regulated temperature, 
and the moths are hatched off exactly at the season when the oak-leaves are 
beginning to be ready for the larvae. This will be about the month of April, 
when the females are laid in wicker trays where they may deposit their eggs. 
Soon, within ten days, the tiny laryrn creep forth and mount the oak-twigs laid 
in the trays for their reception. Carried forth to the tender oak-foliage, they 
