340 THE NATURAL HISTORY 



provisions, and undergo all its changes secure from 

 any ordinary accident. We have unfolded many of 

 these cases, which, to the best of our recollection, are 

 seldom more than an inch long by three-eights wide, 

 but they vary in dimensions according to the size of 

 the leaf out of which they are fashioned, the smaller 

 ones containing one egg only, the larger ones fre- 

 quently two. The first step in the formation of this 

 curious nest, appears to be the weakening of the 

 nervures in a straight line across the leaf, about 

 midway between the stem and the free extremity, as 

 if to facilitate the next operation, which consists in 

 lapping over the upper half on to the lower half, the 

 two sides are next folded inwards, an egg is attached 

 to some part of the interior, and the whole is so com- 

 pactly rolled up and so ingeniously packed in at the 

 ends, that when completed it has the appearance of a 

 truncated cylinder closed at each end, and suspended 

 about its centre by the stem of the leaf. On examin- 

 ing an empty case after it has served its purpose, we 

 find that the young grub has been careful to feed on 

 the inner loose folds of the leaf only, leaving the outer 

 portion untouched, until it was ready to emerge in the 

 perfect state. Bruchus Pisi belongs to this division, 

 and appears to enjoy the green peas in our gardens as 

 much as we do ourselves, the maggots we so fre- 

 quently find in the pods are its larvae. Anthribus 

 albinus has a preference for the Sphceria Fraxinea, 

 which sometimes dots the dead branches of old ash 

 trees in the park, where we have found it. 



The Long-horned Beetles follow the weevils, and 

 among them we find some very interesting examples 

 here. Prionus coriarius, a large leathery looking 

 insect, occurs occasionally in the wooded parts of 

 Uppark and Lady Holt Park, and Aromia Moschata, 

 a very beautiful beetle with so powerful a perfume, 

 resembling that of otto of roses rather than musk, that 

 its presence may often be detected by this alone, 



