Insect Study 359 



Leaflets of locust, fastened together to make a nest by the 

 caterpillar of a butter-fly. 



LESSON LXXVIII 

 THE LEAF-ROLLERS 



Leading thought There are many kinds of insects which roll the 

 leaves of trees and plants into tents, in which they dwell and feed during 

 their early stages. 



Method This is an excellent lesson for early autumn when the pupils 

 may find many of these rolled leaves, which they may bring to the school- 

 room, and which will give material for the lesson. The rolls are found 

 plentifully on sumac, basswood and witch-hazel. 



Observations i. What is the name of the trees and shrubs from 

 which these rolled leaves which you have collected were taken ? 



2. Are more than one leaf or leaflet used in making the roll? 



3. Is the leaf rolled crosswise or lengthwise? How large is the tube 

 thus made? 



4. Is the nest in the shape of a tube, or are several leaves fastened 

 together, making a box-shaped nest? 



5. How is the roll made fast? Examine the little silken ropes with 

 a lens and describe one of them. Is it wider where it is attached to the 

 leaf than at the middle? Why? 



6. How many of these tent ropes are there which make fast the roll? 

 Unroll a leaf carefully and see if you can find signs of the tent ropes that 

 fastened the roll together when it was smaller. Can yovi find where it 

 began ? 



7. As you unroll the leaves what do you see at the center? Has the 

 leaf been eaten? Can you discover the reason why the caterpillar made 

 this roll ? 



8. How do you think a caterpillar manages to roll a leaf so success- 

 fully ? AVhere is the spinning gland of a caterpillar ? How does the insect 

 act when spinning threads back and forth when rolling the leaf? What 

 sort of insect does the caterpillar which rolls the leaf change into? Do 

 you suppose that the same kind of caterpillars makes the rolls on two 

 different species of trees? 



9. In July or early August get some of the rolls with the caterpillars 

 in them, unroll a nest, take the caterpillar out and put it on a fresh leaf 

 of the same kind of tree or shrub on which you found it, and watch it 

 make its roll. 



Supplementary reading "A Dweller in Tents" and "A Little Nomad," 

 in Ways of the Six-Footed. 



