78 [NovembkR 



ColeopJiora QuercifoUella. Early. On leaves of Oaks. 

 Neptuiida platea. Early. Leaves of Oaks. 



,, angui)ifll(i. Early. On leaves of Oaks. 



,, CorylifoUella. Very early. On leaves of Hazel-nut. 



Coleopliora Pniniella. Very early. On leaves of Wild (^herry. 



COLEOPHORA. 



HABITS OF THE LARVAE. 



The young larva; feed either as miners in the interior of leaves or in the 

 interior of seeds. When a leaf-mining larva has attained a certain age? 

 it cuts out the two skins of the mined place and constructs of it a jwrfnble 

 case, which it never abandons subsequently, except to construct a new one, 

 when its increase in growth demands the change. In feeding, the larva 

 attaches its case to a leaf and bores into it between its skins, eating out a 

 transparent patch, extending its body from the case for this purpose, but 

 quickly retreats into it again if alarmed. Some of the seed-feeding species 

 remain within the withered flower, and therefore entirely concealed, until 

 they are quite full fed. Others make a case of the husk of a seed, which 

 they have eaten and are very difficult to distinguish from the untenanted 

 seeds of the plant. The natural orders of plants that seems most frequent- 

 ed by the members of the genus are the Cari/ophyUacese. the Liquhnhiosse, 

 the CompoHitpe and the L<ihi(it?e. at least this applies to Europe and prob- 

 ably to our own country. 



The larvae, except when preparing to form a new case, make small mines, 

 and the discovery of a leaf in which there are one or several transparent 

 patches and both the skins of the leaf entire, with one of them pierced 

 with a minute hole, is a very cei'tain indication that it has been the work 

 of a Coleophora larva. 



The larva hybernate in their cases during the winter and produce inui- 

 gos in the following summer, '• feeding up " during the spring. 



Some of the insects named here from the larvae may. possibly, have been 

 named and described in the ])erfect state. 



1. C. Caryajfoliella. The larva mines the leaves ofhickury in Sep- 

 tember and October. The head and body is reddish -brown, somewhat 

 darker on the second and third rings. 



The case is small, dark browuisli and in form is a flattened, simple, cyl- 

 inder. 'IMie larva feeds only in small, rectangular patches of which there 

 are usunllv several in the samo loif The e. isft is fixed ti the unlcr sur- 



