THE TRICHOPTERA 105 



stray threads of spider's web. For the perfect 

 insect the angler cares comparatively little. Imi- 

 tations in hair, feather, and silk are useful to the 

 fly-fisher, and are known to anglers by the eccen- 

 tric nomenclature by which such imitations are 

 called. It is the larvae in which the angler 

 delights. . . . We will now trace the life of the 

 caddis-fly from the egg to the perfect insect. 



' In the breeding season the female may be 

 discerned to carry about with her a double bundle 

 of little greenish eggs, probably in order to expose 

 them for a certain time to the warm sunbeams 

 before they are immersed in the water. This 

 curious bundle is a long oval in shape, and is 

 bent sharply in the middle, its extremities being 

 attached to the abdomen of the insect. When 

 her instinct tells her of the proper time, she 

 proceeds to the water and attaches the eggs to 

 the leaf of some aquatic plant, often crawling 

 down the stem for several inches. The caddis- 

 fly is quite at home on the water, and, unlike 

 the dragon-flies, which are quite helpless when 

 immersed, can run on the surface with consider- 

 able speed, and on occasion can swim below the 

 surface with scarcely less rapidity. 



' They may often be observed in the act of 

 running on the water, and while they are thus 

 employed, they often fall victims to some hungry 

 fish, which is attracted by the circling ripples 



