NETTLE-LEAF TENT-BUILDERS 159 
quickly desert their tents in captivity, they con- 
tinue to feed on the fresh leaves provided from 
day to day, and suffer little in confinement. 
The full-grown caterpillars are about an inch 
and a half in length, and if our specimens average 
such dimensions we shall not have many days to 
wait for our surprise. Perhaps to-morrow, as we 
open the lid of our box, the caterpillars will be 
seen to have left the leaves, and to be scattered 
here and there on the lid or walls of their prison 
in apparent listlessness. Let us observe this in- 
dividual here beneath the box cover. Its body is 
bent in a curve, and a careful inspection reveals a 
carpet of glistening silk, to which it clings. Now 
the insect regains confidence, and takes up the 
thread which it dropped a moment ago when the 
box was opened, its head moving from side to side 
in a motion suggesting a figure 8, with variations. 
Gradually, through the lapse of several minutes, 
this sweep is concentrated to a more central point, 
which is at length raised into a minute tuft of 
silk ; and if we wait and watch for a few moments 
longer, we shall see our spinner turn about and 
clasp this tuft with its hinder pair of feet. And 
this same process has been going on in different 
parts of our box. Lifting the lid an hour or two 
later, we find the interior full of the caterpillars 
dangling by their tails, each with its body forming 
a loop. 
