14 JANUARY. 



threads over the hole. It then bit off several bits of 

 moss and pushed them between the threads until it 

 became quite thick and I could not see it any longer, 

 as the caterpillar was inside the cell. The cells are 

 quite smooth inside. These larvae are about half or 

 three-quarters of an inch long when they are full 

 grown, and are marked with blue and yellow stripes 

 across the body. They change to a pupa ; from which 

 the fly makes its escape in about three weeks, in May. 

 The eggs of these flies are a long while before they 

 produce caterpillars, as the latter do not appear before 

 the latter end of November or the beginning of De- 

 cember, when the weather is damp and cold; and 

 although they are very small they seek for a small 

 cavity in which they construct themselves a nest. 

 They are provided each with sixteen legs ; some are of 

 a deeper blue than others, and most of them are marked 

 with blue on each side, a yellow line along the back, 

 and a few small brown spots/' 



In decayed wood the larvae of Dasycera sulphurella 

 may be found, while the larvae of Tinea parasitella 

 and Euplocamus Boleti feed in fungi. 



In collecting the larvae of the stem-feeding species, 

 it is not necessary to cut open every stem to see if it is 

 inhabited by larvae; but if we suspect that they are 

 thus inhabited, it is best to cut one or two of them 

 down close to the root, and having stripped it of what- 

 ever leaves may be upon it, examine its surface care- 

 fully in order to see if there are any small round holes 

 in it : if there are, let us cut a length out of it, in the 

 centre of which we must keep the hole ; then, slitting 

 the piece of stem lengthwise, we shall see if they are 



