{13}From Dr. Roxburgh's interesting memoir upon the silk-producing moths of the East Indies,[1] it appears that this species is named the Arundi or Arrindy silk-worm, the caterpillars feeding upon the Arrindi, Ricinus, or Palma Christi. It is capable of being reared in the same way as the common silk-worm, the eggs are hatched in about ten or fifteen days; in about a month the caterpillars attain their full size, during which period they cast their skins three or four times. The caterpillar is from two and a half to three inches in length, each segment being furnished with several small soft conical tubercles, the prevailing colour being pale green. In this state they are very voracious, devouring daily many times their own weight of food. The cocoons are white or yellowish, of a very soft and delicate texture; in general about two or three inches in length, and three in circumference, and pointed at both ends. In this cocoon the chrysalis remains from ten to twenty days, the moth appearing at one end, the period of its final state not extending beyond from four to eight days. The moths are quiet, seldom attempting to fly from the apartment in which they are reared. The silk is so exceedingly delicate and flossy, that it is impracticable to wind it off; it is, therefore, spun like cotton, and the thread thus manufactured is woven into a coarse kind of white cloth, of a loose texture, but of surprising durability, the life of one person seldom being sufficient to wear out a garment made from it, the same piece descending from mother to daughter. It is used not only for clothing, but also for packing light clothes, &c. Some manufacturers in England to whom it was shewn seemed to think that it could be made here into shawls equal to any received from India. DEIOPEIA ASTREA. Plate VI. fig. 3. ORDER: Lepidoptera. SECTION: Nocturna. FAMILY: Lithosiidæ, _Steph._ GENUS. DEIOPEIA, _Steph._ Phalæna (Noctua), _Drury_. DEIOPEIA ASTREA. Alis fulvis; anticis fasciis septem albidis nigro-punctatis, posticis fulvis nigro-punctatis. (Expans. Alar. 1 unc. 7 lin.) SYN. Phalæna (Noctua) Astrea, _Drury_, _App. vol._ 2. _Oliv. Enc. Méth._ 8. 261. (Noctua A.) Phalæna (Bomb.) Pylotis? _Fabr. Ent. Syst._ III. 1. 479. _Gmel. Linn. S. N._ 2440. 575. Phal. Geometra cribrata, _Gmel. Linn. S. N._ 2482. 751. HABITAT: The Gold Coast, Africa.