^396 



INSECT ARCHITECTURE. 



bitants, whose slow movements disqualify them from 

 effecting an escape.* 



The effects of the puncture of aphides on growing 

 plants is strikingly illustrated in the shoots of the 

 lime-tree and several other plants, which become 

 bent and contorted on the side, attaci^ed by the insects, 

 in the same way as the shoot might warp by the loss 

 of its juices on the side exposed to a brisk fire. The 

 curvings thus effected become very advantageous to 

 the insects, for the leaves sprouting from the twig, 

 which naturally grow at a distance from each other, 

 are brought close together in a bunch, forming a 

 kind of nosegay, that conceals all the contour of 

 the sprig, as well as the insects which are em- 

 bowered under it, protecting them against the rain 

 and the sun, and at the same time hiding them 

 from observation. It is only requisite, however, 



S'ifjot of the Ldme-tree contoi-ted hy the punctures of the Aphis Tilico. 



where they have formed bowers of this descrip- 

 tion, to raise the leaves in order to see the little 

 colony of the aphides, — or the remains of those 



* J. R. 



