Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 4.djvu/660

596 family. One of these, Hetaira esmeralda, says Eates, " has one spot only of opaque colouring on its wings, which is of a violet and rose hue ; this is ths only part visible when the insect is flying low over dead leaves in the gloomy shades where alone it is found, and it then looks like the wandering petal of a flower." The Hesperida or Skippers (Plate XXIX. figs. 13 and 15), so called from their jerky hesitating mode of flight, show, in the thick ness of their bodies, the only partially erect way in which they hold their wings when at rest, and the enclosure of their pupa in a cocoon, a distinct approach to the other great division of the Lepidoptera the moths. MOTHS. The vast collection of species included under Classifica- tllis term fonn ei S llfc P rinci P al S rou P s > divided into tion of numerous families. moths. 1. The Spldngina or Sphinx Moths (Plate XXX. figs. 5 and 6), so called from the curious habit which the larvae have of raising the anterior segments of their bodies, and remaining motionless in this position for hours, thus bearing a fanciful resemblance to the fabled Sphinx, are for the most part crepuscular and day-flying. They are also known in the type family as Hawk Moths from the strength and velocity of their flight. In common with the vast majority of moths they are furnished with a spine or strong bristle on the anterior margin of the inferior wings, which being received by a process of the under surface of the superior pair, maintains them in a horizontal or somewhat inclined position in repose. They are also usually pro vided with a greatly elongated tongue, with which they sip their food from flowers, and some species have the power of producing a humming sound. To this group belong the clear-winged moths, Sesiidae (Plate XXX. fig. 12) and sEge- riidce, all day-fliers, and looking more like the bees, wasps, and ichneumons which they are supposed to imitate, than moths; also the family Uraniidae (Plate XXIX. figs. 9 and 14), the species of which are among the most brilliant of Lepidoptera, their wings being of velvety black, relieved by numerous bars of golden green, and the inferior pair prolonged into an elegant tail, closely resembling the same appendage in many of the Papilios. They are all clay-fliers, and this, together with their gay colouring and airy forms, led to their being at first classed among butterflies, a position which fuller acquaintance with them in the larva and pupa stages showed to be untenable. The typical species occur in tropical America, where they fly with amazing rapidity and perform annual migrations. The Death s-Head Moth (Acherontia atro})os) is the largest of European Sphinges, and owing to the peculiar squeaking sound which it utters when alarmed, the death s-head-like markings on the upper surface of its thorax, and its sudden appearance in districts where it may not have been noticed for years, it has for centuries been an object of superstitious dread to the unedu cated. Its beautifully marked larvse feed upon the leaves of the potato, and bury themselves in the ground preparatory to undergoing metamorphosis. The Death s-Head is fond of honey, in search of which its instinct leads it to enter hives, the inmates of which do not attempt to drive it out by means of their stings, but make every endeavour to raise a waxen wall between the moth and their food stores. It is widely distributed over Europe, Asia, and Africa, while closely allied, but still larger forms occur in Australia, 2. The Bomlycina (Plate XXX. figs. 14, 20-25) are noc turnal moths, with the organs of the mouth in many cases so atrophied as to be unfit for use. These live but a few days, during which the male seeks the female and the latter deposits her eggs. They include the silkworm moths, so important to man from the silken cocoons in whioh they enclose their pupce. The silk-producing species are very numerous, but only a few of them have as yet been turned to useful account. The chief of these are the common Silkworm Moth (Bomlyx mori), a native of China, where its cocoons appear to have been utilized by man from time immemorial. During the 6th century it was introduced into Europe, where it soon flourished wherever the mulberry tree, the leaves of which are the sole food of the silkworm, abounded. On these the larva; feed for thirty days, after which they begin to spin an oval cocoon of a close tissue of the finest silk, usually of a golden yellow colour, but some times white, and which when unravelled forms a continuous thread 1100 yards long. Tn order to obtain a fresh supply of eggs, the silkworm breeder allows a few of the pupae tj develop into moths ; and such is the change wrought upon this species by centuries of domestication that, it is said, they rarely if ever attempt to use their wings. They pair, and the female at once settles on the leaves provided for her, where she deposits her eggs and dies. The Arrindy Silkworm (Attacus cynthia], so called from the native name of the castor-oil plant on which its larvae feed, is a native of India. The cocoon is very large, but the thread is too fine to be readily wound off, and it is therefore usually carded, the yarn being woven into a coarse silk cloth of great durability. The Tusseh or Tussur Moth (Anthercea mylitta) is also a native of Upper India, occurring abun dantly in the jungles, where its cocoons, so concealed by the leaves as only to be detected by the presence of the dung of the larvae on the ground, are collected. The Tusseh silk is darker and coarser than that of the common silk worm, but resembles it in being readily wound off. In China there are two oak silkworms from which a coarse silk is obtained, used for the clothing of the Chinese poorer classes ; but the most important of the oak-feeding species is the Yama-mai (Antheroea yama-mdi) of Japan, the silk produced from which was, at least until lately, reserved for the use of the Japanese imperial family. This moth is a beautiful insect, about 6 inches across the wings, of a bril liant golden-yellow colour, with a transparent spot or " eye " near the centre of each wing. Its cocoon is nearly as large as a pigeon s egg, and is of a silvery white within, although externally of a yellowish green. In 1861 it was introduced into France, where it now flourishes, and there is good reason to believe, from the nature of its food and its hardi ness, that the Yama-mai may yet be profitably reared in Great Britain. Tropcea luna, which feeds upon the liquid- ambar trees in the southern parts of the United States, with wings of a lemon colour, each with a " transparent eye," and the hind pair prolonged into an elegant tail, is one of the loveliest species of Bombycina. Its cocoon is formed of the finest silk. Other well-known forms are the Eggars (Lasiocampa, Plate XXX. fig. 26) ; the Proces sional Moth (Cnethocampa processioned), so called from the habit its caterpillars have of congregating in companies of several hundreds, and of marching to their feeding-grounds in regular columns ; the Yapourers (Orgyia, Plate XXXI. figs. 2, 3, 4), whose females being almost wingless deposit their eggs on the outside of their cocoons , and the Psyches (Psychidce), whose females in many cases have neither wings, legs, nor antennae, and never leave the tubes in which they have passed the larva and pupa stages. 3. The Noctuina (Plate XXXI. figs. 9 and 14) form an exceedingly large group of nocturnal moths, although even here there are a few exceptional instances of day-flying species. They are distinguished by their stout bodies and narrow forewings, under which when reposing they conceal the inferior and in many cases more brightly-coloured pair. The majority of the species are small and dull in their colours, while a few are among the largest of known insects the Great Owl Moth of Brazil (Erebus strix) measuring nearly a foot from tip to tip of its wings.

4. The Geometrina (Plate XXXI. figs. 13 and 15) in the