i69 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [May, '04 



performiug in her system of economy. With a sharp knife 

 carefully split one in half, from the flower-head to the root, 

 and at intervals of a few inches apart, we are not now sur- 

 prised to find cleanly excavated cells, in each of which is a 

 slender pale-yellow larva. When ready to pupate he will spin 

 a soft white cocoon in his cell and emerge about the last of 

 June : but before spinning the cocoon his instinct tells him 

 that the delicate moth cannot penetrate the thick woody wall 

 of the stalk, so he carefully gnaws a small hole through and 

 then, to keep out evil-minded enemies, he covers the hole with 

 a thin curtain of silk. In his perfect state he is known as 

 Movipha eloisella Clem., and a very beautiful object he is, 

 shining pearly white, with red and gold markings. 



Nearby is a small Hop-tree {Ptc/ea sp.) with many of its 

 leaves drooping, and in a short time they will shrivel up and 

 drop off. With our now experienced eye, we very quickly 

 discover that a small slender caterpillar has made its home in 

 the stem of each leaf. We will fill up a tin box with a good 

 number of these, cutting the stems off close to the branch and 

 leaving a good supply of both live and wilted food. Within a 

 few weeks we will have a nice crop of Yponomeuta atoniocella 

 Dyar, a very handsome little moth, with salmon hind wings 

 and the pure white fore wings thickly peppered with black 

 dots. 



If this is not sufficient material for one morning's work, we 

 can keep up the hunt, and will soon learn that every species 

 of plant-life supports one or many species of insect-life ; we 

 shall also quickly learn that each species of insect has its own 

 peculiar and individual way of twisting or crumpling the 

 leaves, sometimes at the tip of the twig and elsewhere. Some 

 curl the leaves into small cylinders ; some cut halfway through 

 the stem and hide in and feed on the rapidly withering leaf, 

 preferring this to green and tender young leaves. Others live 

 in the stems and sapwood, in nuts, flower-heads, seeds and 

 seed-pods, in mushrooms and fungoid growths, on the lichens 

 of trees and rocks ; many species are leaf-miners, and as most 

 of us have had an opportunity of finding to our sorrow, one 

 very disagreeable little Tineid will even eat the other speci- 

 mens in our cabinets. 



