EARTH-MASON CATERPILLARS. 179 



wliole was rendered opaque ; and the further operations of 

 the insect could no longer be watched, except that it was 

 observed to keep in motion, finishing, no doubt,. the silken 

 tapestry of the interior of its little chamber. When it was 

 completed, M. Eeaumur ascertained that the portion of the 

 structure which had been built under his eye was equally 

 thick and compact with the other, which had been done 

 under ground. 



The grubs of several of the numerous species of may-fly 

 (^Ephernerd) excavate burrows for themselves in soft earth, 

 on the banks of rivers and canals, under the level of the 

 water, an operation well described by Scopoli, Swammer- 

 dam, and Eeaumur. The excavations are always pro- 

 portioned to the size of the inhabitant ; and consequently, 

 when it is young and small, the hole is proportionally 

 small, though, with respect to extent, it is alwaj^s at least 

 double the length of its body. The hole, being under the 

 level of the river, is always filled with water, so that the 

 grub swims in its native element, and while it is secure 

 from being preyed upon by fishes, it has its own food within 

 easy reach. It feeds, in fact, if we may judge from its 

 egesta, upon the slime or moistened clay with which its hole 

 is lined. 



In the bank of the stream at Lee, in Kent, we had occasion 

 to take up an old willow stump, which, previous to its 

 being driven into the bank, had been perforated in numerous 

 places by the caterpillar of the goat-moth (Cossus ligniperda). 

 From having been driven amongst the moist clay, these 

 perforations became filled with it, and the grubs of the 

 ephemerae found them very suitable for their habitation ; 

 for the wood supplied a more secure protection than if 

 their galleries had been excavated in the cla}^ In these 

 holes of the wood we found several empty, and some in 

 which were full-grown grubs. (J. E.) 



The architecture of the grub of a pretty genus of beetles, 

 known to entomologists by the name of Cincindela, is pecu- 

 liarly interesting. It was first made know;n by the eminent 

 French naturalists, Geoifroy, Desmarest, and Latreille. This 

 grub, which may be met with during spring, and also in 



