344 



INSECT ARCHITECTURE. 



very niuch like a spiral shell; and in the embowered 

 chamber thus formed, the insects are secure from rain, wind, 

 and, partially, from the depredations of carnivorous insects. 

 One of their greatest enemies, the lady-bird (CoccmeUa) , 

 seldom ventures, as we have remarked, into concealed 





l^m^i 



Leaf of the Currant-bush, bulged out bj' the AjMs ribis. 



corners, except in cold weather, and contrives to find food 

 enough among the aphides which feed openly and unpro- 

 tected, such as the zebra aphides of the alder (^Aphides sam- 

 buci). The grubs, however, of the lady-bird, and also those 

 of the aphidivorous flies (Syrphi), may be found prying into 

 the most secret recesses of a leaf to prey upon the inhabit- 

 ants, whose slow movements disqualify them from effecting 

 an escape. (J. E.) 



The effect 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 attacked by the insects, in the same way that a 

 shoot might warp by the loss of its juices on the side ex- 

 posed 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 



