402 ORDERS OF PTILOTA. 



hanging from the branches of the sassafras (Laurus sassa- 

 fras) and spice-wood (L. benzoin), and which, by an ordinary 

 observer, would readily be mistaken for withered leaves which 

 had withstood the blasts of winter, for such they were evi- 

 dently intended by the little architect to represent whilst 

 preparing its narrow cell. After the caterpillar has attained 

 its full size, and lost " the voracious appetite which had 

 hitherto been its predominant character, it begins its pre- 

 parations for the great transformation it is to undergo, by 

 selecting a perfect leaf, the upper surface of which it covers 

 with a fine light yellowish brown silk, extending this coating, 

 with great skill and foresight, over the footstalk of the leaf, 

 and attaching it firmly to the branch, so as to secure the leaf 

 from being separated by any accident. This preliminary 

 operation having been accomplished, the caterpillar next 

 draws the edges of the leaf together, thus forming a perfect 

 external covering or mantle, in which it spins a fine strong 

 and durable cocoon of fine silk. In this habitation our little 

 architect passes the winter secure from birds and other ene- 

 mies. As soon as the cocoon has been completed, the cater- 

 pillar again sheds its skin, and is transformed into a pupa or 

 nymph. At first, the leaf enveloping the cocoon remains 

 green, but soon changes to a red or brown, when it becomes 

 brittle, and is gradually carried away by the winds and storms 

 of winter, until, finally, nothing remains except the cocoon 

 itself, which is firmly suspended by the silk which once 

 covered the footstalk of the leaf." The instinct of the cater- 

 pillar in thus providing for the permanent attachment of its 

 future habitation, appears far to exceed that shown by any 

 other caterpillars, if we except those of the pomegranate but- 

 terfly of the East Indies, of which I have published a memoir 

 in the Transactions of the Entomological Society of London. 

 The silk spun by the Prometheus moth, according to Mr. 

 Peale, is as fine, and is produced in as great abundance, as that 



