224 



THE PHYLLOPHAGA. 



est care until their arrival at maturity. This is not 

 the case with all the Hymenoptera however, for the 

 larvae of a considerable section of these insects pre- 

 sent so close a resemblance to the caterpillars of the 

 Butterflies and Moths, that there is sometimes a little 

 difficulty in distinguishing them. Before passing 

 into the pupa state, a great many of the larvae spin a 

 silky cocoon, and the pupae are always quiescent, and 

 enclosed in a delicate skin, which envelopes each 

 limb separately, so that they are freely applied to 

 the sides of the body. 



In the spring of the year, when the bright green 

 leaves of the gooseberry bushes first make their appear- 

 ance in our gardens, they are often devoured in a most 

 remarkable manner, even before they have completely 

 concealed the straggling spiny branches, which pre- 

 sent such an ungainly appearance in their winter 

 undress. If the injury stopped with the destruction 

 of the beauty of his bushes, the gardener might per- 

 haps put up with it without much grumbling, but 

 unfortunately the production of leaves and fruit are 

 intimately connected, and unless the branches are 

 well clothed with the former, the crop of the latter 

 will be very small. If we search for the cause of this 

 wholesale destruction of some of the earliest and 

 most delicate foliage that rejoices our eyes in the 

 spring, we shall find that it is devoured by a multi- 

 tude of small caterpillar-like larvae, furnished with 

 twenty feet"*, of a pale greenish colour, covered with 



* Of these only six are the true thoracic legs, whilst the others 

 are prolegs attached to the abdomen, six on each side, and a pair, 

 called anal prolegs, at the extremity. 



