THE QUEER CASES ON THE WILLOW TWIGS. 



Fig. 34. — Winter Case of Viceroy 

 Caterpillar. 



Through the winter and early spring, a sharp-eyed boy or 



girl may frequently find on the bare twigs of willow shrubs, 



curious cylindrical cases of a some- 

 what silken texture, attached where a 

 leaf has been. The shape of one of 

 these cases is shown in Fig. 34. 



If you examine such a case closely 

 ;^ou will find that it is indeed made 



out of a leaf. You can see the long 



midrib projecting beyond the round 



part, and the shape of the leaf stem 



may be traced 



below the silky 



covering. With 



a little study 



you will see 



that the blade 



of a leaf has been rolled into 



a tube arkd its edges sewed 



together. 



If you will carefully open one 



of these cases you will be likely 



to find on the inside the cun- 

 ning creature that has so deftly 



made a house for itself out of 



a leaf, that otherwise would long 



since have fallen to the ground. 



It is a little brownish caterpillar, more or less mottled with 



37 



Fig. 35. — Caterpillar resting on Winter 

 Case. 



