CH. XIX.] OBNOXIOUS INSECTS. 273 



cold, are, on the contrary, supposed to check and 

 destroy them. It is, however, wonderful to ob- 

 serve with what address they secure themselves 

 from the effects of the two former. Such as feed 

 on boughs, on such occasions, creep from them to 

 the large branches or body of the tree, where they 

 rest unshaken ; and those which reside in webs are 

 so secured as to suffer little injury from any of those 

 causes. It appears that the only mischief these cat- 

 erpillars are capable of occasioning is to rob par- 

 ticular trees and shrubs of their foliage and blos- 

 soms : it remains to consider how far the trees and 

 shrubs will be injured by such a loss, and how far 

 it may be injurious to their owners. It has been 

 found, by repeated observation, that those trees 

 and shrubs which have been entirely stripped have 

 not been killed thereby, but as soon as the cater- 

 i pillars have removed to change to chrysahs, they 

 Ihave put forth fresh foliage : the only loss, there- 

 Ifore, the owner sustains from their depredations on 

 those trees which are not cultivated for the sake 

 of the fruit, is some check to their growth, and a 

 temporary deprivation of the beauties of spring and 

 autumn. But the gardeners sustain more serious 

 injuries by these insects, as they destroy the blos- 

 soms in the bud as well as the fruit. 



