﻿Identification 
  of 
  Reaumur 
  s 
  Microlepidoptera. 
  107 
  

  

  the 
  epidermis 
  we 
  shall 
  see 
  that 
  this 
  white 
  circle 
  does 
  not 
  belong 
  

   to 
  it; 
  that 
  opposite 
  the 
  place 
  where 
  it 
  appeared 
  is 
  a 
  little 
  cocoon 
  

   of 
  white 
  silk; 
  it 
  is 
  nearly 
  circular, 
  and 
  fastened 
  to 
  the 
  leaf 
  itself. 
  

   Towards 
  the 
  15th 
  August 
  small 
  moths 
  made 
  their 
  escape 
  from 
  

   these 
  little 
  cocoons 
  (Tlscheria 
  com-planella) 
  ." 
  

  

  Note. 
  — 
  I 
  have 
  not 
  yet 
  bred 
  this 
  species, 
  and 
  no 
  modern 
  writer 
  

   has 
  given 
  a 
  detailed 
  account 
  of 
  the 
  mode 
  of 
  living 
  of 
  the 
  larvae 
  

   and 
  pupa; 
  Ratzeburg, 
  it 
  is 
  true, 
  described 
  and 
  figured 
  the 
  larva, 
  

   but 
  he 
  states 
  that 
  the 
  larva: 
  winter 
  in 
  the 
  leaves, 
  and 
  makes 
  no 
  

   mention 
  of 
  the 
  singular 
  circular 
  cocoon. 
  Mr. 
  Stainton 
  once 
  

   found 
  such 
  a 
  cocoon 
  in 
  a 
  leaf 
  of 
  Centaurea 
  nigra 
  at 
  Mickleham, 
  

   in 
  August, 
  but 
  the 
  tenant 
  died, 
  and 
  he 
  much 
  doubts 
  whether 
  it 
  

   was 
  liOpidopterous. 
  

  

  " 
  Early 
  in 
  spring 
  we 
  may 
  observe 
  thousands 
  of 
  oak 
  leaves, 
  of 
  

   which 
  very 
  large 
  portions 
  of 
  the 
  upper 
  epidermis 
  have 
  been 
  

   loosened 
  ; 
  that 
  of 
  more 
  than 
  half 
  or 
  three 
  quarters 
  of 
  the 
  leaf 
  is 
  

   raised, 
  and 
  forms 
  very 
  frequently 
  a 
  slight 
  convexity 
  ; 
  but 
  these 
  

   large 
  mined 
  places 
  are 
  also 
  the 
  work 
  of 
  several 
  miners, 
  which, 
  

   after 
  living 
  in 
  solitude 
  during 
  a 
  portion 
  of 
  their 
  life, 
  have 
  united 
  

   to 
  labour 
  at 
  the 
  same 
  work. 
  If 
  we 
  look 
  at 
  the 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  leaf 
  

   which 
  is 
  between 
  the 
  large 
  mined 
  place 
  and 
  tlie 
  foot 
  stalk, 
  we 
  

   shall 
  see 
  several 
  narrow 
  and 
  tortuously 
  mined 
  galleries, 
  which 
  are 
  

   the 
  roads 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  insects 
  have 
  lived 
  and 
  grown, 
  and 
  which 
  

   they 
  have 
  followed 
  to 
  arrive 
  at 
  a 
  point 
  where 
  they 
  should 
  mine 
  

   together 
  on 
  a 
  large 
  scale. 
  If 
  we, 
  towards 
  the 
  beginning 
  of 
  June, 
  

   remove 
  the 
  epidermis 
  of 
  the 
  large 
  mined 
  place, 
  the 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  

   leaf 
  which 
  we 
  expose 
  to 
  view 
  is 
  very 
  green, 
  and 
  sometimes 
  very 
  

   smooth 
  ; 
  it 
  does 
  not 
  appear 
  that 
  its 
  substance 
  has 
  been 
  eaten, 
  

   neither 
  do 
  we 
  see 
  any 
  excrements 
  therein, 
  but 
  we 
  immediately 
  

   observe 
  two, 
  three, 
  or 
  four 
  places, 
  according 
  to 
  the 
  size 
  of 
  the 
  

   mined 
  portion, 
  which 
  are 
  raised 
  and 
  white. 
  They 
  resemble 
  small 
  

   portions 
  of, 
  as 
  it 
  were, 
  a 
  second 
  epidermis, 
  which 
  had 
  been 
  

   loosened, 
  or 
  places 
  which 
  had 
  been 
  mined 
  a 
  second 
  time. 
  These 
  

   places 
  are 
  those 
  where 
  each 
  little 
  caterpillar 
  has 
  spun 
  a 
  cocoon 
  so 
  

   thin, 
  and 
  of 
  so 
  close 
  a 
  texture, 
  that 
  it 
  appears 
  only 
  to 
  be 
  an 
  epi- 
  

   dermis 
  of 
  the 
  leaf; 
  it 
  has, 
  at 
  any 
  rate, 
  the 
  colour 
  of 
  it; 
  but 
  we 
  

   can 
  convince 
  ourselves 
  that 
  this 
  covering 
  has 
  been 
  spun 
  ; 
  for 
  if 
  

   we 
  tear 
  it 
  we 
  can 
  distinguish 
  the 
  threads 
  of 
  which 
  it 
  is 
  composed, 
  

   and 
  see 
  that 
  the 
  texture 
  does 
  not 
  at 
  all 
  resemble 
  the 
  epidermis 
  of 
  

   a 
  leaf." 
  

  

  Note. 
  — 
  There 
  seems 
  little 
  doubt 
  that 
  Coriscium 
  subslriga 
  is 
  the 
  

   insect 
  here 
  alluded 
  to, 
  but, 
  according 
  to 
  Mr. 
  Sircom's 
  observa- 
  

   tions, 
  the 
  larvae 
  quit 
  the 
  leaves 
  previous 
  to 
  spinning 
  their 
  white 
  

   cocoons; 
  whereas 
  Reaumur 
  describes 
  them 
  as 
  spinning 
  their 
  

  

  