COLLECTING OVA, LABV&, AND PVP& 105 



Silken threads always arouse our suspicions. These may be seen 

 lying on the surfaces of leaves, and passing from one leaf to another, 

 or they may be hanging perpendicularly from the branches of trees 

 above. In the latter case a larva may be frequently seen on the 

 lower extremity of the fibre, swinging gently in the breeze, and, 

 should we require it, we have only to place the open box below for 

 its reception. 



Hawthorn and other trees are sometimes seen almost devoid of 

 leaves, nearly every bit of green having been greedily devoured by 

 a host of small larvae. In such cases w r e often meet with dense 

 clusters of silk fibres that may easily be mistaken for spiders' nests. 

 But when we look more closely into the structure we observe that 

 we have discovered instead nests of gregarious larvae, such a large 

 number being in each little community that the deplorable appear- 

 ance of the tree is at once explained. 



A little farther on we meet with a sickly-looking plant in the 

 midst of a number of flourishing individuals of the same species, 

 and stop to make inquiries into the cause of this strange occurrence. 

 Is it due to a poorness of the soil ? No, this cannot be the case ; 

 for intermingled with its roots are those of its flourishing com- 

 panions. We pluck a stunted and half- shrivelled leaf and examine 

 it. At first we do not notice the cause of its peculiar condition ; 

 but, holding it up to the light, and looking through it, we see a 

 number of little galleries that have been eaten out of its internal 

 soft substance, leaving the thin skin (epidermis) almost entirely 

 intact. But nothing more is to be seen. Another leaf is examined 

 in exactly the same way ; and here we see the little destroyer, lying 

 motionless in its burrow till a gentle pressure applied against it 

 from outside causes it to wriggle along its narrow passage. This is 

 the larva of one of the little leaf miners mentioned again on 

 page 303. 



Reaching a little marshy spot we see a number of water-loving 

 reeds, most of them beautifully green and in a flourishing condition, 

 but here and there in their midst is a poor stunted specimen 

 another result of the ravages of the larvae of one or more moths. 

 An examination of the blades reveals nothing ; but on splitting 

 open the stalk we discover some larvae that have already devoured 

 a quantity of the internal pith, and thus endangered the life of the 

 plant. On inspecting other similar reeds we are at first puzzled as 

 to how the larvae could get inside the stems without damaging the 

 outer portion ; but at last we see in each one a little discoloured 



