246 Insect Architecture. 



We have just discovered (Nov. 4th, 1829) upon the 

 nettle a tent of a very singular appearance, in consequence 

 of the materials of which it is made. The caterpillar 

 seems, indeed, to have proceeded exactly in the same 

 manner as those which we have described, mining first 



a, The Caterpillar occupying the space it has eaten between the cuticles of the leaf ; 

 b, a portion of the upper cuticle, cut out for the formation of the tent ; c, the tent 

 nearly completed ; d, the perfect tent, with the caterpillar protruding its head. 



between the two membranes of the leaf, and then uniting 

 these and cutting out his tent. But the tent itself looks 

 singular from being all over studded with the stinging 

 bristles of the nettle, and forming a no less formidable coat 

 of mail to the little inhabitant than the spiny hide of the 

 hedgenog. In feeding it does not seem to have mined into 

 the leaf, but to have eaten the whole of the lower membrane, 

 along with the entire pulp, leaving nothing but the upper 

 membrane untouched. (J. K.) During the summer of 1830 

 we discovered a very large tent which had been formed out 

 of a blade of grass ; and another stuck all over with chips 

 of leaves upon the common maple. 



TENTS OF STONE-MASON CATERPILLAKS. 



The caterpillar of a small moth (Tinea) which feeds upon 

 the lichens growing on walls, builds for itself a moveable 

 tent of a very singular kind. M. de la Voye was the first 

 who described these insects ; but though they are frequently 

 overlooked, from being very small, they are by no means 



