348 



ANIMALS OF EGA. 



Chap. V. 



may be made on the singular cases and cocoons woven 

 by the caterpillars of certain moths found at Ega. The 



first that may be mentioned, is one of the 

 most beautiful examples of insect work- 

 manship I ever saw. It is a cocoon, about 

 the size of a sparrow's egg, woven by a 

 caterpillar in broad meshes of either buft 

 or rose-coloured silk, and is frequently 

 seen in the narrow alleys of the forest, sus- 

 pended from the extreme tip of an out- 

 standing leaf by a strong silken thread five 

 or six inches in length. It forms a very 

 conspicuous object, hanging thus in mid- 

 air. The glossy threads with which it is 

 knitted are stout, and the structure is 

 therefore not liable to be torn by the beaks 

 of insectivorous birds, whilst its pendulous 

 position makes it doubly secure against 

 their attacks, the apparatus giving way 

 when they peck at it. There is a small 

 orifice at each end of the egg-shaped bag, 

 to admit of the escape of the moth when Susp e f n ^ e d th cocoon 

 it changes from the little chrysalis which 

 sleeps tranquilly in its airy cage. The moth is of a 





