Page:Jardine Naturalist's Library Exotic Moths.djvu/154

130 black, or yellow with a round black spot on each segment; the head, a transverse oval spot on the segment behind it, the membranous legs, anal segment, and horn, in every case remaining ferruginous. Some of these states are represented on Plate I.: figs. 1 and 2, the larva when rather more than half grown; fig. 3, the full grown larva, after shedding its spines. On the same plate we have represented some other remarkable forms of the caterpillars of exotic moths. Fig. 4 is that of the species named Bombyx molina by Cramer, and figured in his 302d plate, E. F. Fig. 5 is the caterpillar of ''Phal. Bombyx Nesea'' of Stoll, remarkable for the brilliancy of its colours and a long dorsal horn projecting forwards. Fig. 6 is the caterpillar of Bombyx netrix of the same author, the moth of which is figured by Cramer on plate 307, fig. B.

The insects of this extensive family are called, par excellence, silk-spinning moths, because they produce silk in greater profusion than any other lepidoptera. They may be said to be almost the only insects, except bees, which it has been thought worth while to cultivate and domesticate on account of their utility to man. Besides the common silk-moth (B. mori), a great variety of other kinds are cultivated in various quarters of the world. Some of these we have figured and described. The great obstacle experienced in rendering their produce serviceable, is the extreme difficulty in unwinding the silk from the cocoon. owing to the tenacious quality