98 LIFE STORIES OF AUSTRALIAN INSECTS. 



of feeding, and would then retire into the case ex- 

 tending a pair of legs to take hold of a stem ; the 

 position varied, at one time one would hold on to 

 a stem and the body and case would be vertical," 

 giving it the appearance of standing on its head; 

 or it might hold the case at an angle. Sometimes 

 one would get under a leaf or stem and rest there 

 without even the exertion of holding on. The 

 head and legs are partly withdrawn, the ends of 

 the long hind legs curved round the head which 

 was seen under the flap of the case. The crea- 

 ture just looked like a person in a closed-in ham- 

 mock, lying back with arms at the back of the 

 head and viewing the world — too lazy to move 

 even a leg. (Plate 13. Fig. 7.) 



When stretching to reach some object the larva 

 withdrew part of the protected body which is quite 

 white and with a number of long white hairs, which 

 curved round the body, giving it the appearance of 

 being wrapped in loose white fibres. 



A curious habit they had of "grazing" over one 

 another's cases, and as one alighted on the case of 

 its mate, the latter would begin on his, and round 

 and over they would go, and so quickly that they 

 resembled a pair of playful puppies, especially asl 

 one would get tired and jerk its mate off. We 

 examined the case under the microscope and found 

 that numerous green water algae were growing on 

 it, and this is what the caddis grubs were seeking. 



We examined a larva out of its case (Plate 13, 

 Fig. 8), and found that there were three projections 

 on the first segment of the abdomen. One at the 



