22 IMPERFECT SOCIETIES OF INSECTS. 



lay a silken carpet over every road and pathway lead- 

 ing to their palace, which extends as far as they have 

 occasion to go for food. To the habitation just de- 

 scribed they retreat during- heavy rains, and when 

 the sun is too hot : — they likewise pass part of the 

 night in them ; — and, indeed, at all times some may 

 usually be found at home. Upon any sudden alarm 

 they retreat to tliem for safety, and also wlicn they cast 

 their skins : — in the winter they are wliolly confined 

 to them, emerging again in the spring : but in IVIay and 

 June they entirely desert them ; and, losing all their 

 love for society, live in solitude till they become pups, 

 which takes place in about a month. W^hen they de- 

 sert their nests, the spiders take possession of them ; 

 which has given rise to a prevalent though most absurd 

 opinion, that they are the parents of these caterpillars ''. 



With other caterpillars the association continues 

 during the whole of the larva state. De Geer mentions 

 one of the Tenthrediadce of this description which form 

 a common nidus by connecting lea\es together with 

 silken threads, each larva moreover spinning a tube of 

 the same material for its own private apartment, in 

 which it glides backwards and forwards upon its back ^. 

 I have observed similar nidi in this country ; the insects 

 that form them belong to the Fabrician genus Lyda. 



The most remarkable insects, however, that arrange 

 under this class of imperfect associates, are those that 

 observe a particular order of march. Though they 

 move without beat of drum, they maintain as much 

 regularity in their step as a hie of soldiers. It is a most 



•*. Vol. I. 2d Ed. 476. Rcauaiur, ii. 125. ° De Geer, ii. 1029, 



