The Processionary : the Moth 



earth. With him it is not the industry of 

 the Bembex/ who inserts grains of sand in 

 her silky web and makes a solid casket of 

 the whole; it is a summary sort of art, devoid 

 of delicacy, which just casually sticks to- 

 gether the surrounding earthy refuse. 



Moreover, if circumstances demand it, the 

 Pine Caterpillar can do without earth. In 

 the very midst of the nest I have sometimes 

 — very rarely, it is true — discovered cocoons 

 which were perfectly clean. Not a scrap of 

 alien matter defiled their fine white silk. I 

 have obtained similar specimens by placing 

 caterpillars under a bell-glass in a pan pro- 

 vided only with a few pine-twigs. Better 

 still: an entire procession, a good-sized one 

 too, gathered at the opportune moment and 

 enclosed in a large box containing no sand nor 

 any material whatever, spun its cocoons with 

 no other support than the bare walls. These 

 exceptions, provoked by circumstances in 

 which the caterpillar is not free to act ac- 

 cording to his wont, does not in any way in- 

 validate the rule. To prepare for the trans- 

 formation, the Processionary buries himself, 



iCf. The Hunting Wasps: chaps, xiv to yivn.-Trans- 

 lator's Note. 



115 



