312 THE BOMBYCINA. 



about in the daytime, with a curious and indescribable 

 dancing motion, which will, perhaps, be best under- 

 stood from the English name of the Vajwurer, which 

 is commonly applied to him. The female is a little 

 fat insect, with the merest rudiments of wings, which 

 may be found, like the caterpillar, upon fruit-trees in 

 gardens. It has a pair of short antennse, very different 

 from the elegantly feathered organs of the male, and 

 six little legs, which seem hardly capable of supporting- 

 its body ; in fact the female is so very sedentary in 

 her habits, that she usually deposits her eggs in the 

 pupa-case from which she has escaped. 



Still more imperfect are the females of a small group 

 of Moths, the position of which has often been a sub- 

 ject of debate amongst Entomologists, but which are 

 now generally placed with the Bombycina. These form 

 the family of the Psychidce, and although the species 

 are few in number, and local in their distribution, 

 there is no group of Lepidoptera whose oeconomy 

 is so interesting. The larvse of these singular little 

 creatures construct little cases for themselves of frag- 

 ments of grass, leaves, and other vegetable matters, 

 and even sometimes of particles of sand. Like the 

 similarly constructed cases of the Triclioptera, these 

 have two openings, from one of which the larva is 

 able to protrude its head and anterior legs, so as 

 to crawl about and feed; and the male and female 

 larvse construct cases of different forms, and appear 

 sometimes to live upon different plants. When full 

 grown^ the larva fastens down the mouth of its case to 

 the surface of some solid object, such as a rock or wall, 

 or the trunk of a tree, and then turning round so that 

 its head may point towards the hinder opening of the 

 case, undergoes its change to the pupa state. 



. I 



