60 



BUCCULATRIX ULMELLA. [PlATE II. FlG. 1. 



wliicli a}3pear to have been broken 

 and patched again a little beyond 

 the middle ; the very singular form 

 of these cocoons made me anxious 

 to see how the insect set to work to 

 construct them, and on the ^Oth of 

 August, 1711, I had an opportunity 

 of satisfying my curiosity. 



" I then saw that the larva first 

 commenced by surrounding itself by 

 twenty posts (so to speak), which it 

 ranged in an ellipse around it; these 

 imitation posts were constructed of 

 silk ; they were stiff, elastic and 

 thicker towards the base than to- 

 wards the top ; they form no part 

 of the cocoon itself, and I can con- 

 ceive no other use for them than 

 that of protecting the larva, whilst at 

 work, from coming in contact with 

 leaves or other substances which, 

 agitated by the wind, might otherwise 

 inconvenience it. 



" Having prepared this sort of in- 

 closure, it commenced to spin its 

 cocoon in the interior, beginning near 

 one of the extremities of the inajor 

 axis of the ellipse: having agitated 

 its head for two or three minutes 

 with very great activity, I saw that 

 one end of the cocoon began to 

 appear and already displayed its 

 grooves. I observed the construction 

 attentively through a powerful glass, 

 and I found that the relief of the 

 grooves arose from a row of angular 

 meshes which advanced one beyond 

 the other and were fastened down 

 by the threads, which, passing over 

 these meshes, were fastened on both 

 sides to the body of the cocoon ; 

 between the intervals of each of 

 these rows of meshes I saw a very 

 regular network of simple threads, 



de la coque, mais qui semblent avoir 

 ete rompues et raccommodees un peu 

 audela du milieu. La facon tres- 

 singuliere de ces coqites me fitnaitre 

 le desir de voir comment Finsecte 

 s'y prcnait pour les construlrc, et le 

 20 Aotit, 17-li, j'eus occasion de 

 contenter ma curioslte. 



" Je vis alors que la chenille com- 

 menca d'abord par s'environner d'une 

 vingtieme de raanlere de palissades, 

 qu'elle rangea en ellipse autour 

 d'elle ; ces facons de pallssndes 

 etaient construites de sole. Elles 

 etaient roide^, clastiques et plus 

 epaisses vers le bas que vers le haiU. 

 Elles n'entrent pour rien dans la 

 construction de la coque memo, et 

 je n'en connols d'autre usage que 

 celui de garantir la chenille, pendant 

 qu'elle travaille, de la rencontre de 

 feuilles on autres corps qui, agltes 

 du vent, pourralent la troubler dans 

 son ouvrage. 



" Apres avoir dresse cette fa^on 

 d'enclos, elle commenca dans son 

 enceinte, pres de I'une des extremltes 

 du grand axe de Tellipse qu'il for- 

 mait, a filer sa coque, et aya:it agite 

 la tete pendant deux ou trois mi- 

 nutes, avec une tres-grande aclivite, 

 je vis un des bouts de la coque, qui 

 commenca a paraitre, et a montrer 

 deja ses cannelures. J 'en observai 

 attentivcment la construction au 

 travers d'une forte loupe, et je 

 trouvai que le relief des canne- 

 lures resultait d'une file de mailles 

 an<TulaIres qui avancaient les unes 

 audela des autres, et etaient assu- 

 jetties par des fils, qui, passant par 

 dessus ces mailles, tenaient de part 

 et d'autre au corps de la coque. 

 Entre les intervalies de chacune de 

 ces files dc mailles, je vis un lacis 



