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INSECT ARCHITECTURE. 



granular bodies of a greenish colour, placed irregu- 

 larly on the exterior of the structure, which he calls 

 eggs; but we agree with Reaumur in thinking it 

 more probable that they are small fragments of moss 

 or lichen intermixed with the stone: in fact, we have 

 ascertained that they are so.* 



When these little architects prepare for their 

 change into chrysalides before becoming moths, they 

 attach their tents securely to the stone over which 

 they have hitherto rambled, by spinmng a strong 

 mooring of silk, so as not only to fill up every inter- 

 stice between the main entrance of the tent and the 

 stone, but also weaving a close, thick curtain of the 

 same material, to shut up the entire aperture. 



Tents and Caterpillars, both of their natural size and magnified. 



It is usual for insects which form similar struc- 

 tures, to issue, when they assume the winged state, 

 from the broader end of their habitation ; but our 

 little stone-mason proceeds in a different manner. It 

 leaves open the apex of the cone from the first, for 

 the purpose of ejecting its excrements, and latterly 

 it enlarges this opening a little, to allow of a free 

 exit when it acquires wings; taking care, however, 

 to spin over it a canopy of silk, as a temporary pro- 

 tection, which it can afterwards burst through with- 



* J. R. 



