82 
MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES. 
Toronto, Out. It expands an inch and a half. The larva is one 
of those strange, weird forms in which Nature seems occasionally 
to delight, suggesting that she must have been in a “ wondrous 
merry mood ” in evolving a being so grotesque. The extreme of the 
Larva of Gramatopliora trisignata. 
fantastic and the ridiculous seems to have been reached in shaping 
this creature. Of beauty it has none, and is withal a most venomous 
looking animal, for when disturbed it swings its head from side to 
side in a menacing manner. The tuft of hairs just back of the head 
usually have attached the hard black shells of the insect’s head 
which were shed in the earlier moults of the larva, and these add a 
good deal to its uncanny appearance, giving one the impression that 
it has several heads of different sizes. The caterpillar is dark brown, 
with a lighter brown patch occupying several of the segments. The 
six front legs, head and warts from which the hairs spring are 
shining black. The food plant of the caterpillar is lilac. 
BOMBYCIDM. 
Spinners. 
The family of Bombyx is one of great importance, as it not only 
includes many of the largest and finest insects in the world, but also 
those of greatest importance to man from an economic standpoint, as 
in this family belong all the principal silk-producing insects from 
whose cocoons such a variety of beautiful and useful fabrics are 
manufactured. The moths belonging to this family are mostly stout, 
thick-bodied insects, frequently very hairy or woolly. They have 
small, sunken heads, and the antennae are often feathered, particu¬ 
larly in the males. The mouth parts are either rudimentary or 
wholly wanting, many of the species not being able to appropriate 
food of any kind in the perfect state. Their wings are usually broad, 
