on culuur-relatiun. 235 



continually adopted the above-mentioned attitude when 

 at rest, forming themselves into an irregular spiral 

 (PI. XI., fig. 3), the fore part of the body being bent 

 round so that the head and first five segments were 

 erected almost vertically. This position was retained 

 for hours at a time, either when the larvae were resting 

 on leaves, or when they were hanging by a supporting 

 thread from the leaf or a stick, which they frequently 

 did, something after the manner described by Mr. Poulton 

 in E. pendularia (Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond., 1884, Part I.). 

 The spiral twist was maintained, as well when hanging 

 by the thread as when resting on a leaf; it was most 

 prevalent during the third stage, but some individuals 

 continued it through the fourth and even fifth stages. 

 The spiral attitude was common to both sets of larvae, 

 green and brown, but was continued much later by the 

 brown larvae, which also adopted the hanging position 

 much more frequently than the green. In fact, the 

 brown larvae hung in the spiral attitude almost con- 

 stantly, and it was when in this position that they 

 adopted the habit I observed. This was that, whenever 

 I examined them, which I did many times every day 

 (without removing the cylinder), the hanghig larvae took 

 to spinning round on their threads with a circular or 

 vibrating motion. I supposed the motion to be acci- 

 dental, and probably caused by my touching or jogging 

 the cylinders. But I soon noticed that the larvae spun 

 whenever I examined them, and it seemed to me as if 

 the movement were voluntary, since it occurred when I 

 did not touch the cylinder at all, and when I approached 

 so as not to cause any vibration perceptible to me. The 

 movement appeared circular, but it was so rapid that it 

 might have been vibratory, the rapidity giving a deceptive 

 appearance ; the movement caused by jogging or shaking 

 was, however, a to-and-fro one, quite unlike the spin- 

 ning. The latter motion was not unlike that noticeable 

 in young spiders {Epeira diademata), when observed or 

 interfered with in their web ; they set the web violently 

 shaking with a round-and-round motion, which confuses 

 the enemy, and renders the spider scarcely distinguish- 

 able. The likeness of the brown larvae, when spinning, 

 to the bits of dead leaves, sticks, or rolled-up spiral 

 leaf-cases one sees hanging on a thread or web in a 

 hedge, and spinning or vibrating in the wind, struck me 



