THE LIVING WORLD. 
265 
the inventor, the mechanic, the busy brain of the designer, the unresting hand 
of the weaver, the various employes of commerce, transportation, the retail 
dry goods, millinery, and haberdashery callings, while it opened new avenues 
to those living and laboring upon the farm. 
As long ago as 1848, our importations of silk amounted to over five millions 
of dollars, with all the romance and life-sustaining power which a dollar, 
circulated from hand to 
hand, and from clime to 
clime, implies. Surely, 
the small must not be 
confounded with the in¬ 
significant, nor must one 
mistake his want of ac¬ 
quaintance with the popu¬ 
lous and varied world of 
insects, for any want of 
claim on its part to his 
most serious attention. 
An oak-feeding silk-worm 
has been imported and 
promises well. The 
cecropia will feed upon 
the more common fruit 
and shade trees. The 
ailanthus has also been 
imported, and has lessened 
the disfavor of the tree 
upon which it feeds. It may be remarked, in passing, that the American 
silk-worm proves a greater source of profit than the naturalized moths. Sor¬ 
ghum is invaded by the Nola sorghiella. 
The Humming-Bird Hawk-Moth is vari¬ 
ously colored ; its front wings are ashy-brown with 
three black wave-like lines ; the hind wings are of 
a rusty yellow. 
The Grain Butterfly (or Tinea granella ) is 
troublesome alike while the grain is standing in 
the field and after it has been stored in the barn. 
The Melon Caterpillar 
has iridescent white wings, 
with a broad band of purple 
or black on the outer margin. 
The Meal-Moth, or 
Flower-Moth (Asopiafarin- 
alis ), has front wings of 
yellowish-brown, bordered by chocolate-colored edges; the other wings are 
smoky-brown, marked by two irregular white lines and a row of spots along 
the edges of the wings. It is a frequent visitor to our supplies of meal, 
flour, etc. 
The Canker-Worm is greenish-yellow or brown, and has pale stripes on 
leaf butterfly ( Kallima paralecta ). 
larvae of clothes moth, clothes moth ( Tinea sarcitella). 
