from the egg, its first care is to provide itself with a domicile, which indeed seems no less indispensable to it than food; for, like all caterpillars that feed under cover, it will not eat while it remains unprotected. Its mode of building is very similar to that which is employed by other caterpillars that make use of extraneous materials. The foundation or frame-work is made of silk secreted by itself, and into this it interweaves portions of the material upon which it feeds. It is said by Bingley, that "after having spun a fine coating of silk immediately around its body, it cuts the filaments of the wool or fur close by the thread of the cloth, or by the skin, with its teeth, which act in the manner of scissors, into convenient lengths, and applies the bits, one by one, with great dexterity, to the outside of its silken case."* This statement, however, is erroneous, and inconsistent with the proceedings not only of the clothes-moth, but of every caterpillar that constructs a covering. None of these build from within outwards, but uniformly commence with the exterior wall, and finish by lining the interior with the finest materials. Réaumur, however, found that the newlyhatched caterpillars lived at first in a case of silk.

We have repeatedly witnessed the proceedings of these insects from the very foundation of their structures; and, at the moment of writing this, we turned out one from the carcase of an "old lady moth " (Mormo maura, OCHSENHEIM.) in our cabinet, and placed it on a desk covered with green cloth, where it might find materials for constructing another dwelling. It wandered about for half a day before it began its operations; but it did not, as is asserted by Bonnet, and Kirby and Spence, "in moving from place to place, seem to be as much incommoded by the long hairs which surround it, as we are by * Animal Biography, vol. iii. p. 330, 3rd ed.

walking amongst high grass," nor, "accordingly, marching scythe in hand," did it," with its teeth, cut out a smooth road." On the contrary, it did not cut a single hair, till it selected one for the foundation of its intended structure. This it cut very near the cloth, in order, we suppose, to have it as long as possible; and placed it on a line with its body. It then immediately cut another, and placing it parallel to the first, bound both together with a few threads of its own silk. The same process was repeated with other hairs, till the little creature had made a fabric of some thickness, and this it went on to extend till it was large enough to cover its body; which (as is usual with caterpillars) it employed as a model and measure for regulating its operations. We remarked that it made choice of longer hairs for the outside than for the parts of the interior, which it thought necessary to strengthen by fresh additions; but the chamber was ultimately finished by a fine and closely woven tapestry of silk. We could see the progress of its work, by looking into the opening at either of the ends; for at this stage of the structure the walls are quite opaque, and the insect concealed. It may be thus observed to turn round, by doubling itself and bringing its head where the tail had just been; of course, the interior is left wide enough for this purpose, and the centre, indeed, where it turns, is always wider than the extremities.†

When the caterpillar increases in length, it takes care to add to the length of its house, by working-in fresh hairs at either end; and if it be shifted to stuffs of different colours, it may be made to construct a party-coloured tissue, like a Scotch plaid. Réaumur cut off with scissors a portion at each end, to compel the insect to make up the deficiency. But the caterpillar increases in thickness as well as in length, so * Bonnet, xi. p. 204. Kirby and Spence, Intro. i. 464. 5th ed.

† J. R.

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that its first house becoming too narrow, it must either enlarge it, or build a new one. It prefers the former as less troublesome, and accomplishes its purpose as dexterously," says Bonnet, as any tailor, and sets to work precisely as we should do, slitting the case on the two opposite sides, and then adroitly inserting between them two pieces of the requisite size.

Cases, &c. of the Clothes-Moth (Tinea pellionella)-a, caterpillar feeding in a case, which has been lengthened by ovals of different colours. b, case cut at the ends for experiment. c, case cut open, by the insect, for enlarging it. d, e, the clothes-moths in their perfect state, when, as they cease to eat, they do no further injury. It does not, however, cut open the case from one end to the other at once; the sides would separate too far asunder, and the insect be left naked. It therefore first cuts each side about half way down, beginning sometimes at the centre and sometimes at the end, (Fig. c.) and then, after having filled up the fissure, proceeds to cut the remaining half; so that, in fact, four enlargements are made, and four separate pieces inserted. The colour of the case is always the same as that of the stuff from which it is taken. Thus, if its original colour be blue, and the insect, previously to enlarging it, be put upon red cloth, the circles at

the end, and two stripes down the middle, will be red."* Réaumur found that they cut these enlargements in no precise order, but sometimes continuously, and sometimes opposite each other, indifferently.

The same naturalist says he never knew one leave its old dwelling in order to build a new, though, when once ejected by force from its house, it would never enter it again, as some other species of caterpillars will do, but always preferred building another. We, on the contrary, have more than once seen them leave an old habitation. The very caterpillar, indeed, whose history we have above given, first took up its abode in a specimen of the ghost-moth (Hepialus humuli), where, finding few suitable materials for building, it had recourse to the cork of the drawer, with the chips of which it made a structure almost as warm as it would have done from wool. Whether it took offence at our disturbing it one day, or whether it did not find sufficient food in the body of the ghostmoth, we know not; but it left its cork house, and travelled about eighteen inches, selected "the old lady," one of the largest insects in the drawer, and built a new apartment composed partly of cork as before, and partly of bits clipt out of the moth's wings.t

We have seen these caterpillars form their habitations of every sort of insect, from a butterfly to a beetle; and the soft feathery wings of moths answer their purpose very well: but when they fall in with such hard materials as the musk-beetle (Cerambyx moschatus) or the large scolopendra of the West Indies, they find some difficulty in the building.

When the structure is finished, the insect deems itself secure to feed on the materials of the cloth or other animal matter within its reach, provided it is dry and free from fat or grease, which Réaumur

*Bonnet, vol. ix. p. 203.

† J. R.

found it would not touch. This may probably be the origin of the practice of putting a bit of candle with furs, &c., to preserve them from the moth. For building, it always selects the straightest and loosest pieces of wool, but for food it prefers the shortest and most compact; and to procure these it eats into the body of the stuff, rejecting the pile or nap, which it necessarily cuts across at the origin, and permits to fall, leaving it threadbare, as if it had been much worn. It must have been this circumstance which induced Bonnet to fancy (as we have already mentioned) that it cut the hairs to make itself a smooth comfortable path to walk upon. It would be equally correct to say that an ox or a sheep dislikes walking amongst long grass, and therefore eats it down in order to clear the way.

TENT-MAKING CATERPILLARS.

The caterpillars of a family of small moths (Tineida), which feed on the leaves of various trees, such as the hawthorn, the elm, the oak, and most fruit-trees, particularly the pear, form habitations which are exceedingly ingenious and elegant. They are so very minute that they require close inspection to discover them; and to the cursory observer, unacquainted with their habits, they will appear more like the withered leaf-scales of the tree, thrown off when the buds expand, than artificial structures made by insects. It is only indeed, by seeing them move about upon the leaves, that we discover they are inhabited by a living tenant, who carries them as the snail does its shell.

These tents are from a quarter of an inch to an inch in length, and usually about the breadth of an oat-straw. That they are of the colour of a withered leaf is not surprising; for they are actually composed of a piece of leaf; not, however, cut out from the