SATURNIA MYLITTA. 147 
greyish yellow, the antennae, which are strongly 
pectinated in the male, ferruginous. The colour of 
the insect on the under side is greyish-hrown^ and 
besides the markings nearly corresponding to these 
of the surface, there is a dark band commencing at 
the anterior edges of the upper wings and continued 
across the disk of both in a line with the eyes, 
terminating at the abdominal edges just behind the 
body. The upper wings are strongly falcate, par- 
ticularly in the male. 
The eggs of this valuable species are white, round, 
compressed, with a depression or pit in the centre 
on each side : the circumference crossed with ru^ee, 
corresponding with the rings of the enclosed animal. 
They hatch in from two to four weeks, according 
to the state of the weather. 
The caterpillars acquire their full size, which is 
about four inches in length and three in circum- 
ference, in about six weeks ; they are of a yellowish- 
green colour, and composed of ten segments, of 
which the posterior one is in some degree bifid. 
There is a light yellowish coloured stripe on each 
side, which runs from the second or third anterior 
segment to the incisure of the last; immediately 
under these stripes, the middle five, six, or seven 
segments are marked with an oblong gold-coloured 
speck. The back is also marked with a few round 
darker coloured spots, and a few long, coarse, dis- 
tinct hairs issue from these spots, with others of a 
smaller size scattered over the insect. When these 
caterpillars approach near their full size, they are 
