OCR Text |
Show 674 MR. H. DRUCE ON NEW SPECIES OF [Dec. 20, the cocoon of A. infractor: in shape it is much the same as that of A. moloneyi, but rather longer and slightly darker in colour ; it was obtained by Mr. A. Higgins at He Ife, about fifty miles inland from Lagos, where it was very common, hanging from the trees ; but it is not found near the coast. The natives eat the larvae, which are of a reddish-brown colour; they fry them in palm-oil. Mr. Higgins informs me they are of a sweetish taste when cooked. They also make use of the silk, taking it from the cocoons, washing it, and forming it into hanks, which they sell in the market-places; it is also made into rough cloths by the women. About 60 moths have come out of the cocoon, 25 males and 35 females, some of them crippled. The silk closely resembles that of A. moloneyi, but it is darker brown and not quite so glossy. The cocoons were placed in a warm orchid-house, and about a week afterwards two moths came out, then others every day, but only when the sun was shining on the cocoon, which was placed close up to the glass ; the moths always emerged between 10 and 12 o'clock in the morning. ANAPHE CARTERI, Walsingham. Female. Very like the male but much larger, the black band on the primaries much wider and not divided in the middle; the black border on the costal and inner margin is wider; tbe antennae are black and rather deeply pectinated. Expanse 2 2$ inches. Hab. West Africa : Gambia (Carter). The male of this species was described by Lord Walsingham, Trans. Linn. Soc. ser. 2, Zool. ii. p. 433, t. xiv. f. 9. Through the kindness of Mr. Carter I am now able to describe the female. CHCEROTRICHE, Butl. C H C E R O T R I C H E ORESTES, n. sp. Male. Primaries citron-yellow, crossed from the costal to the inner margin by six bands of indistinct orange spots, those close to the base being the darkest in colour; a black crescent-shaped narrow line at the end of the cell, and, beyond, a band of small greyish dots extending from near the apex to the inner margin. Secondaries uniform silky cream-colour. The underside of all the wings cream-colour, slightly darker at the base. Head, thorax, and abdomen yellow. Female the same as the male, excepting that the markings on the primaries are much more indistinct, and the abdomen is of a dark brown colour, with a very large anal tuft of hairs. Expanse, 3 If inch, § 2f inches. llab. West Africa : Mongo-ma Lubah (L. W. Thompson). A fine species, not unlike Cispia punctifascia, Walker, from India. DASYCHIRA, Steph. D A S Y C H I R A CANGIA, n. sp. Male. Primaries greyish white, with all the veins yellowish, crossed from the costal to the inner margin with many rows of |