220 PTILOTA. 



and other materials, as leaves, moss, earth, &c., are detailed 

 by Reaumur and De Geer, and which are introduced into 

 the " Introduction to Entomology," and the " Insect Archi- 

 tecture." I trust, therefore, that my readers will feel 

 more interested in the two following instances, to which, 

 together with the account of the proceedings of the Emperor 

 moth (see p. 9), I shall confine my notice of this branch 

 of the subject, premising only, that much remains to be 

 discovered, and that a wide field of interesting inquiry is 

 open, for the investigation of those who prefer looking at 

 the workings of nature, to the mere getting together of a 

 collection of specimens. 



The first of these instances is recorded by Lyonnet in his 

 posthumous researches, lately published, and relates to the 

 Tinea sequella of Fabricius, a very small moth, having the 

 upper wings of a white satiny ground, from the base to the 

 middle, with darker markings formed of small scattered 

 black dots. Its caterpillar is extremely small, not exceeding 

 one-sixth of an inch in length, and is found on the under- 

 side of oak leaves. Lyonnet, who had observed the pro- 

 ceedings of many caterpillars in forming their cocoons, never- 

 theless says of this, that it " emploie une adresse incon- 

 cevable " in forming its case, which is of a white colour, 

 and of a long oval form, having its upper surface ornamented 

 with seven upright ridges. Unlike most cocoons, however, 

 it is applied along the flat under-side to the leaf upon which 



it is placed, so that it forms only an arc of a circle. The first 

 step taken by the larva is to erect about a score of small 

 upright silken palisades, arranged in an oval position all 



