36 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



niovtar or stone ; this cocoon has little resemblance to the 

 usual formula adopted by larva? when preparing for jnipation, 

 but is very like the blister we occasionally see on paint; this 

 cocoon, while tenanted, is closed at both extremities, just as 

 though the occupant had shut himself up for good, and all 

 to undergo pupation : in the night or early morning, more 

 especially in wet weather, he gnaws an opening at one end of 

 his dwelling-place, comes completely out, and feeds ou the 

 lichen ; but during the greater part of the day, and iiideed 

 during the night also in very dry weather, he remains shut 

 up in his house : in moist weather, after making a copious 

 uieal on the saturated and swollen lichen, each larva seeks 

 his accustomed shelter, always carefully fastening the door, 

 or, in other words, spinning up the opening; but it is curious, 

 and rather opposed to the ordinary habits of insects in this 

 respect, that, as a general rule, each larva is totally careless 

 whether he return to his own dwelling-place or to that of 

 some friend or relation ; he will, without a moment's hesita- 

 tion, coolly possess himself of any tenement he finds unoccu- 

 pied, and, carefully closing the entrance, maintains his 

 position against all comers ; supposing, however, that the 

 tenement he examines with the view of taking possession be 

 already occupied, he never presumes to intrude, never thinks 

 of contesting the point, but continues to wander about on 

 the look-out for a house until he finds one unoccupied : an 

 occupied cell is invariably closed, so that when you find one 

 open you uiay at once conclude it is an empty house; in no 

 instance do two larvte attempt to occupy the same dwelling, 

 either as joint tenants or tenatits in common ; should any 

 difficulty arise in finding an empty house, which not unfVe- 

 quently happens, he sets to work in the most contented man- 

 ner to construct one, and probably before now is as comfort- 

 ably lioused as any of his friends : 1 have said that in dry 

 weather these larvte remain sealed up in their domiciles, and 

 when this continues for long they appear to sutler greatly 

 Irom lack of food ; for if the cocoon be forcibly opened after 

 a long continuance of drought, its body is found in a very 

 shrivelled and atropliied state, and its head disproportion- 

 ately large and conspicuous. When full-fed, which is about 

 the end of May, this larva has a limp and Haccid character, 

 very similar to that of a larva that has been ichneumoned : it 



