332 



INSECT ARCHITECTURE. 



with silk, in which the caterpillars Uve harmoniously 

 together. 



Pendulous hcif-ncsts, from Bonnet. 



In a recently published volume of ' Travels in 

 Mexico,' we tind a very remarkable account of some 

 pendulous nests of caterpillars, which appear to be 

 almost as curious as the nests of the card-maker 

 wasps, described at p. 88. The author of these 

 travels does not define the species of caterpillar, 

 whose constructions excited his observation. He 

 says, " After having ascended for about an hour, we 

 came to the region of oaks and other majestically 

 tall trees, the names of which I could not learn. 

 Suspended from their stately branches, were innu- 

 merable nests, enclosed, apparently, in white paper 

 bags, in the manner of bunches of grapes in Eng- 

 land, to preserve them from birds and flies. I had 

 the curiosity to examine one of them, which I found 

 to contain numberless caterpillars. The texture is 

 so strong that it is not easily torn; and the interior 

 contained a quantity of green leaves, to support the 

 numerous progeny within."* 



* Hardy's Travels in the Interior of Mexico, p. 32. 



