24 IMPERFECT SOCIETIES OF INSECTS. 



the trivial name of the animal, the monks their coeno- 

 bium. At their head is a chief, by whose movements 

 their procession is regulated. When he stops, all stop, 

 and proceed when he proceeds ; three or four of his 

 immediate followers succeed in the same line, the head 

 of the second touching the tail of the first; then comes 

 an equal series of pairs, next of threes, and so on as 

 far as fifteen or twenty. The whole procession moves 

 regularly on with an even pace, each file treading upon 

 the steps of those that precede it. If the leader, ar- 

 riving- at a particular point, pursues a different direc- 

 tion, all march to that point before they turn. Pro- 

 bably in this they are guided by some scent imparted 

 to the tracks by those that pass over them. Sometimes 

 the order of procession is different ; the leader, who 

 moves singly, is followed by two, these are succeeded 

 by three, then come four, and so on. When the leader, 

 — who in nothing differs from the rest, and is probably 

 the caterpillar nearest the entrance to the nest, fol- 

 lowed, as I have described, — has proceeded to the 

 distance of about two feet, more or less, he makes a 

 halt ; during which those which remain come forth, 

 take their places, the company forms into files, the 

 inarch is resumed, and all follow as regularly as if they 

 kept time to music. These larva? maybe occasionally 

 found at mid-day out of their nests, packed clo^e one 

 to another without making any movement; so that, al- 

 though they occupy a space sufficiently ample, it is not 

 easy to discover them. At other times, instead of being 

 simply laid side by side, they are formed into singular 

 roassesj in which they are heaped one upon anotherj 



