362 INSECT ARCHITECTUKE. 



from their appearance, belonged to some species of beetle, 

 and we carefully preserved them in order to watch their 

 economy. It appeared to us that they had attacked the 

 snail in its stronghold, while it was laid up torpid for the 

 winter ; for more than half of the body was alread}^ de- 

 voured. They constructed for themselves little cells attached 

 to the inside of the shell, and composed of a sort of fibrous 

 matter, having no distant resemblance to shag tobacco, 

 both in form and smell, and which could be nothing else 

 than the remains of the snail's body. Soon after we took 

 them, appearing to have devoured all that remained of the 

 poor snail, we furnished them with another, which they 

 devoured in the same manner. They formed a cocoon of 

 the same fibrous materials during the autumn, and in the 

 end of October appeared in their perfect form, turning out 

 to be Drilas Jiavescens, the grub of which was first discovered 

 in France in 1824. The time of their appearance, it may 

 be remarked, coincides with the period when snails become 

 torpid. (J. R.) 



In the following autumn, we found a shell of the same 

 species with a small pupa-shaped egg deposited on the lid. 

 From this a c«.terpillar was hatched, which subsequently 

 devoured the snail, spun a cocoon within the shell, and 

 was transformed into a small moth (of which we have not 

 ascertained the species) in the spring of 1830. 



END OF INSECT ARCHITECTURE. 



