432 HABITATIONS OF INSECTS. 



second kind mentioned, namely, those which are formed 

 by the insect itself for its own use. These may be again 

 subdivided into such as are the work of the insects in 

 their larva state ; and such as are formed by perfect 

 insects. 



Many larvas of all orders need no other habitations 

 than the holes which they form in seeking for, or eat- 

 ing, the substances upon which they feed. Of this de- 

 scription are the majority of subterranean larvae, and 

 those which feed on wood, as the Bostrichi or labyrinth 

 beetles ; the Anobia which excavate the little circular 

 holes frequently met with in ancient furniture and the 

 wood work of old houses ; and many larvae of other 

 orders, particularly Lepidoptera. One of these last, the 

 larva of Cossus ligniperda differs from its congeners in 

 fabricating for its residence during winter a habitation 

 of pieces of wood lined with fine silk a . Under this 

 division, too, come the singular habitations of the sub- 

 cutaneous larvae, so called from the circumstance of 

 their feeding upon the parenchyma included between 

 the upper and under cuticles of the leaves of plants, be- 

 tween which, though the whole leaf is often not thicker 

 than a sheet of writing-paper, they find at once food 

 and lodging. You must have been at some time struck by 

 certain white zigzag or labyrinth-like lines on the leaves 

 of the dandelion, bramble, and numerous other plants : 

 the next time you meet with one of them, if you hold it 

 up to the light you will perceive that the colour of these 

 lines is owing to the pulpy substance of the leaf having 

 there been removed ; and at the further end you will 

 probably remark a dark-coloured speck, which, when 

 * Lyonet, Anat. of Coss. 9. 



