476 HABITATIONS OF INSECTS 



in spinning the nest just described; and in tl)is they 

 continue to reside in harmony until they become per- 

 fect insects, assuming in it even the state of chrysalis^. 



Habitations similar, as to their general structure, to 

 the above, though differing in several minute circum- 

 stances, are formed by the larvae of several other moths, 

 as of Arctia ■phceorrhoea of Curtis, TricJioda neustria, &c. 

 as well as those of Vanessa lo, Melitaa Cinxia, and 

 some other butterflies : and even of some saw-flies (56';- 

 rifera), which, however, have each a separate silken co- 

 vering. But as it would be tedious to describe these 

 particularly, I pass on to the habitations formed by in- 

 sects in their perfect state, which have in view the edu- 

 cation of their young as well as self-preservation, de- 

 scribing in succession those of ants, bees, wasps, and 

 'white-ants. 



Of these the most simple in their structure are the 

 nests of different kinds of ants, many of which exter- 

 nally present the appearance of hillocks more or less 

 conical, formed of earth or other substances. 



The nest of the large red or horse ants [F. rufa,) which 

 are common in woods, at the first aspect seems a very 

 confused mass. Exteriorly it is a conical mount composed 

 of pieces of straw, fragments of wood, little stones, leaves, 

 grain ; in short, of any portable materials within their 

 reach. But however rude its outward appearance, and the 

 articles of which it consists, interiorly it presents an ar- 

 rangement admirably calculated at once for protection 

 against the excessive heat of the sun, and yet to retain 

 a due degree of genial warmth. It is wholly composed 

 ^ Rcaiim. ii. 179. 



