194 



If a leaf he oaten it is usually a sign that larvae have been the cause,* if more 

 particularly the edges have been devoured and the ribs more or less completely de- 

 molished, it may as a rule be set down as the work of a Lepidopterous larva ; 

 whereas, if the centre of the leaf be attacked, the ribs being avoided, it looks rather 

 suspiciously indicative of saw-fly larvae, though by no means necessarily so, for the 

 young larvae of many Lepidoptera feed much after the same manner ; and case- 

 bearers seem almost invariably to attack the centre parts of the leaf. 



If the parts eaten present a fresh appearance the larvae, in all proliability, will 

 not be far distant, and diligent search should bo made for them ; in this way it is 

 by no meajQS difficult to track the larvae of many of our Sphinges, most of our 

 Bombyces and Pseudo-bombyees, as well as of several Geometrae, butterflies, case- 

 bearers, &c. The search must be eSected by turning the branch or stem in such 

 directions as will enable the collector to see in succession all parts of the 

 leaves (especially of edges and midribs), leaf stalks, twigs, and the bark of the 

 branch itself, indeed, the procedure is the same as that which has been recommended 

 under egg-hunting, excepting that here we have a more certain clue as to the pre- 

 sence of the object of our search. In very important cases it may even be desirable 

 to pluck ofl" and examine attentively in succession leaf after leaf, twig after twig, 

 but I have some hesitation in recommending this plan, which has an air of wanton- 

 ness about it. 



Whenever two or more leaves are spun together, or when a shoot is unable 

 to expand, or a leaf is folded, the hunter should at once proceed to unravel the cause, 

 which will most frequently be found to be Lepidopterous, and would indicate that a 

 larva or larvae were, or had been, feeding between or within. In this manner feed 

 the larvae of Clostera, Cymatophora, Tetliea, Dicycla, Cosmia, Epunda viminalis, 

 Cheimatohia, Ypsvpetes eVutata and ruheraria, Melanippe hastata, Eupithecia dehiliata, 

 Scotosia (when young), some species of the genera Pijrausta, Botys, Pionea, and 

 Scapula, also some of the Phycidce, Halias clilorana, and a vast majority of the 

 Tortrices. As many of these larvae, however, have a knack of wriggling from be- 

 tween the leaves on the slightest handling of the "leafy hut," a net should bo held 

 beneath, preparatory to securing them. When only two leaves are drawn together 

 the contained larva may usually be discovered by looking through them against the 

 light, when of course there will be no need to disturb them. When the bunches 

 are composed of more than two leaves, one or two may be opened to ascertain 

 whether or not the larva be present, and of the proper growth for being collected, 

 when, if the result be satisfactory, the spun leaves should be cut off and placed in 

 the tin box without further examination. 



A withered or sickly appearance of the food-plant often denotes the 

 presence of an internal stem or root-feeding larva, and by attention to this point 

 the practised eye will detect at a glance an infected plant amongst a number of 

 healthy ones. Thus, when the centre leaves of reeds die oft', the presence of the 



* Slues, snails, wasps, leaf-cuttiiiE: bees, i c, however, frequently eat or cut leaves in such a manner 

 as to lead the inexperienced to believe the work to havi? been executed by larvte, but when the molluscs 

 have been the cause the leaves are cenerully riddled, and traces of their slimy trails and long string-like 

 ilroppinps are readily discernible, wliile the leaf-cultinjr of the Hymenopterous imagos is usually clean 

 and of some neat shajie, as oval, circular. Other mutilations of leaves, as those produced by animals, 

 birds, friction between contiguous branches, rupture from force, such as that of the beating stick or 

 pelting hail, &.C., present a bruised appearance unlike that produced by the feeding larva. 



