NETTLE-LEAF TENT-BUILDERS I 59 



quickly desert their tents in captivity, they con- 

 tinue to feed on the fresh leaves provided from 

 day to day, and suffer little in confinement. 



The full-grown caterpillars are about an inch 

 and a half in length, and if our specimens average 

 such dimensions we shall not have many days to 

 wait for our surprise. Perhaps to-morrow, as we 

 open the lid of our box, the caterpillars will be 

 seen to have left the leaves, and to be scattered 

 here and there on the lid or walls of their prison 

 in apparent listlessness. Let us observe this in- 

 dividual here beneath the box cover. Its body is 

 bent in a curve, and a careful inspection reveals a 

 carpet of glistening silk, to which it clings. Now 

 the insect regains confidence, and takes up the 

 thread which it dropped a moment ago when the 

 box was opened, its head moving from side to side 

 in a motion suggesting a figure 8, with variations. 

 Gradually, through the lapse of several minutes, 

 this sweep is concentrated to a more central point, 

 which is at length raised into a minute tuft of 

 silk ; and if we wait and watch for a few moments 

 longer, we shall see our spinner turn about and 

 clasp this tuft with its hinder pair of feet. And 

 this same process has been going on in different 

 parts of our box. Lifting the lid an hour or two 

 later, we find the interior full of the caterpillars 

 dangling by their tails, each with its body forming 

 a loop. 



