THE LARVA 



33 



resting place on the slightest sign of danger, and, when the alarm 

 is over and all is quiet again, they ascend the food plant and 

 resiime their position. 



Some caterpihars not only rest, bnt even feed mider cover, 

 quite secure from most, if not all, of tiieir enemies. Several of 

 them feed on roots, and many a farmer can relate sad experiences 

 of the havoc committed by these caterpillars on his turnips and 

 other crops. Then there are those which feed on flowers and buds, 

 completely burying themselves in the dense mass of food. 



FiCr. 27. — The Homes of Leaf Mixers and Leaf Eollees. 



We must conclude this brief account of resting and hiding 

 places and attitudes of caterpillars by a few observations on the 

 leaf miners and leaf rollers. 



The former are very small caterpillars —the larvas of certain 

 small moths — that eat burrows into leaves without doing any con- 

 siderable injury to the outer epidermis, and thus prepare a safe 

 resting place within the substance of their food. 



The latter, also mostly of small size, make themselves secure 

 by curling a leaf or a portion of a leaf into a cylinder, and holding 

 it in position by means of a number of silken threads. 



If you examine a leaf thus curled you will soon be convinced 



