476 
LEPIDOPTERA. 
are of large size, the immense Atlas Moth having a span of ten inches. 
The colouring is bright and very varied in tint; it has no protective 
significance in all probability and the resemblance to the head of the 
cobra seen by some authors in the apex of the wing of some species does 
not appear to have any real significance ; in some species there are clear 
circular spots in the wings. The body is short and thickset, densely 
clothed in hair, the legs are short, the wings very large. The absence 
of proboscis makes feeding impossible and the moths are not long-lived. 
The moths deposit large numbers of round eggs (Plate XLII), which 
are thickshelled, without ornamentation and in some cases laid with a 
coating of gum which makes them adhere in groups. The larvae grow to a 
large size, and are characterised by having tubercles or processes bear¬ 
ing spines ; they are leaf-eating and found principally upon forest trees. 
When full grown a cocoon is spun, composed of more or less tightly woven 
silk fixed to a leaf or some other part of the plant. Emergence from the 
cocoon is effected by softening one end of the cocoon by a solvent fluid 
excreted by the pupa or by the passage of the moth through one end 
which is so constructed as to allow of the egress of the moth but not of 
the entrance of insects from without (see page 481). 
The moths are nocturnal and short lived ; the phenomenon of assem¬ 
bling is conspicuous and is utilised by native silk rearers, who keep only 
the heavier female cocoons for rearing females ; these females are then 
exposed at night, fastened down, and are fertilised by wild males which 
come from the surrounding forests. “Assembling ” denotes the attrac¬ 
tion of the males to females by some sense, possibly that of smell 
which guides them from a long distance ; it is employed in collecting 
certain butterflies and moths which exhibit this faculty, the exposure of 
a newly hatched female being sufficient to bring up the males in the 
vicinity. It occurs only in Lepidoptera in this marked form. 
None of these species can be considered as pests, while the species 
producing tasar, eri and muga silk rank in economic value beside the 
true silkworm (Bornbyx mori, L.) and the lac insect (Tachardia lacca). 
These insects are wholly confined to moist forest areas, the larvae usually 
feeding upon forest trees and not thriving when exposed to hot dry 
west winds. For this reason it is impossible to rear them throughout 
India, and though some will feed on cultivated plants such as castor. 
