Chambers's encyclopaedia; a dictionary of universal knowledge . hey belongto the order Lepiiloptera, sub-order Heterocera orMoths, group IJombycina, and to several of thetwenty-seven or more families which compose thisgroup, the most important being the Bombyci<laand the Saturnid;!. All the Satnrnid;e are silk-producers, but not all the Bombycid;e. Recentresearches have resulted in adding many new orpreviously unknown species to the list of silk-produceis, and the known number is now upwardsof 400, and the list is by no means complete. The Bombycidii? have a very short and rudi-mentary prob
Chambers's encyclopaedia; a dictionary of universal knowledge . hey belongto the order Lepiiloptera, sub-order Heterocera orMoths, group IJombycina, and to several of thetwenty-seven or more families which compose thisgroup, the most important being the Bombyci<laand the Saturnid;!. All the Satnrnid;e are silk-producers, but not all the Bombycid;e. Recentresearches have resulted in adding many new orpreviously unknown species to the list of silk-produceis, and the known number is now upwardsof 400, and the list is by no means complete. The Bombycidii? have a very short and rudi-mentary proboscis, live for a very brief time intheir perfect state, and take little or no food ;the boily is thick and hairy: the antenn;e arepectinated. The caterpillars feed on the leavesand other tender parts of trees or other plants : thechrysalises are enclosed in a cocoon of silk, whichgives to some of the species a great economicalimportance. The most important is the CommonSilkworm {Bomln/x mori), cultivated chielly inChina, Japan, Italy, and France. The perfect. Fijj. 1. - Coininon Silkworm {Bomhi/x mori): a, larva, full grown ; h, larva, seripositing : c, cocoon ; d, chrysalis ; e, female moth : /, male moth. moth is about an inch in length, the female ratherlarger than the male; the wings meeting like thesides of a roof: the colour pale bull with a broailpale brown liar across the upper wings. generally die very soon after tlny their eggs, and the males do not survive muchlonger. The eggs are numerous, about tbe size ofa pins head, not together, but fastenedto the on which they are laid by a gummy substance, which, when dry, becomes silky InEurope they are laid in spring, and are hatciied insummer. The caterpillar is at first very .--mall, notmore than a quarter of an inch in length, butra]iidly increases in size, till, when full grown, it isnearly 3 inches long. It is of a yellowish-graycolour. The head is large. On the upper part ofthe
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookpublisherlondo, bookyear1901
