Il8 TRANSFORMATIONS OF INSECTS. 



have pretty feathery antennee. Considering what clumsy looking 

 things some of the moths of the Bombycina group are, and how 

 delicate are the little Psyches, which may be blown almost to 

 pieces by a puff of wind, there may be some excuse for the 

 name, especially as they have a very tiny mouth, and as they 

 live for love, having no other passion or appetite. The larvae live 

 in cases, which they make up of a certain quantity of silk and 

 of pieces of vegetable tissue arranged with great tact and care. 

 Some kinds use pieces of leaves ; others straws cut to a proper 

 shape, or morsels of stick ; others build up their curious house, 

 which always travels with them, with sprigs of moss ; and one 

 in particular constructs some very odd-looking tubes, which, 

 although very rough and funny looking outside, are lined with 

 the softest and finest silk. The Psychidce carry their cases just 

 as snails do their shells ; and one species, which will be alluded 

 to, especially with reference to its maiden offspring, actually 

 mimics shells in the construction of its case. When they wish 

 to move they put out their head and the thoracic segments, so 

 that their scaly legs can hook on to the leaves or twigs. When 

 they want to be quiet they anchor their house by means of a 

 silken thread, and re-enter it completely. It is really very 

 curious to see these little tubes crawling about, and going here 

 and there over the leaves, without being able to distinguish the 

 insect. The species are all in the larva state in the early spring 

 or middle of summer. One of them, which is the commonest of 

 all, may be found on the sloe, elm, and sallow trees, and its case 

 is composed of pieces of stems of grass placed side by side. The 

 scaly legs (the fore legs) of the larvae are well developed, and the 

 membranous legs, which are very small, and furnished with a 

 complete ring of hooks, enable the insect to hold on to its snug 

 little house. When the larvae have attained their full growth, 

 and their time of metamorphosis is at hand, they do not require 

 either to seek a safe spot or to manufacture a cocoon, for their 

 tube is the best shelter they can possibly have. 



The insect attaches its tube either to the trunk or branch 

 of a tree, or to a wall, and closes one end very carefully. This 

 operation having been satisfactorily completed, it turns round 

 in the tube so as to allow its head to rest near that end of the 



