Page:Jardine Naturalist's Library Exotic Moths.djvu/161

Rh of the wings brown, appearing as if powdered; a round black spot is placed towards the tip having a light-coloured crescent within it, and there are several blood-coloured stains near it: a white zigzag line, accompanied with a blood-red streak, runs from this black spot to the anterior edge. The hinder wings are similar to the upper, but the white discoidal spot is larger, the transverse band broader, and bordered internally with white; the external margin dull buff-colour, with two faint black lines, and a row of transverse curved spots. All the markings described appear brighter and more distinct on the under side. The hinder wings are bordered along the anterior edges with white, that colour becoming broader as it approaches the shoulders. The caterpillar is green, with the head, legs, and numerous projecting points over the body, yellow; there is also a pair of small blue spots on each segment. It feeds on the wild American plum (Prunus Pensylvanica) and spins its cocoon on a branch. The cocoon is larger than a pigeon's egg, of a yellowish-brown colour, the outer layer of silk rather coarse, the interior of finer texture. We are not aware that this silk has ever been unwound, but it has been carded, spun, and made into stockings, and Abbot states that it will wash like linen. The insect is rather plentiful in the neighbourhood of New York, but scarce in Georgia. The caterpillar has occasionally been reared by feeding it with the leaves of the apple-tree, but it is at all times difficult to make it flourish in confinement.