ARCHITECTURE OF MOTHS. 77 



threads, as man would do cables, and then, applying 

 the weight of his own body in opposition, raises it to 

 the perpendicular.* 



A species of moth, which feeds on the lilac, forms 

 a habitation for itself within the leaf of that tree. 

 This it rolls up at the point of the leaf, by com- 

 mencing at one end, and fixing and pulling its threads 

 till it becomes nearly the shape of a scroll of parch- 

 ment. Another species pursues a different method 

 with lilac leaves. By a process similar to the above, 

 it contrives to bring the extreme edges of the leaf 

 together in the manner of a hollow tube, leaving it 

 open at the bottom and point for its egress, as repre- 

 sented in the following figure : 



The Small Green Oak Moth, (Tortrie viridana,) an 

 insect of a fine green colour, pursues a similar mode 

 of constructing a habitation with the first mentioned 

 of the lilac caterpillars, but differing in one particular, 

 that it works on the under side of the leaves, in place 

 of the upper surface, pulling the leaf backwards and 



* BONNET, ix. 188. 



