96 OF SOCIABLE CATERPILLARS. 



mid-day ; in which case they are usually found 

 packed one above another, as if dead ; and although 

 they may occupy a considerable space, yet they are 

 not easily discovered, from the surrounding leaves of 

 grass ; at other times they are observed lying side by 

 side. In the former of these conditions they are 

 also frequently found in their habitations. It not 

 unfrequently happens that these families disperse into 

 smaller groups, and never again unite.* 



Our enlightened and scientific countryman, Mr 

 Skene of Rubieslaw, on an arid coteau above Tolonai, 

 in Provence, France, witnessed a procession of a 

 different species of caterpillar, which marched in 

 Indian file, or in a single row, the interesting account 

 of which I shall transcribe in his own language : 



" I observed," says he, " what appeared to me a 

 very slender snake writhing across my path, which, 

 but for the unusual season for these reptiles to appear, 

 should no doubt have passed unheeded. Upon 

 examination, however, it turned out to be the orderly 

 emigration of a colony of large caterpillars. They 

 were proceeding assiduously along the rocky path, 

 in a line of march by single files, and so close, that 

 they appeared to have a hold each of his neighbour's 

 tail, and the continued wave formed by their motion 

 had a very singular effect. The stony surface of the 

 path rendered their progress exceedingly tortuous, 

 and interrupted by much climbing over stones, as 

 they seemed in general more disposed to go over 



REAUMUR, ii. 180. 



