SPINNERS AND WEAVERS 



FROM very early times man has been acquainted 

 with, and has made use of, the spinning powers of 

 insects. The Silkworm, that came originally from 

 China or India, has been the principal source of 

 the finest raiment with which the human species 

 has clothed itself, but the faculty of producing silk 

 is shared by many insects in a minor degree. In 

 most of them it is utilized in the final stage of the 

 grub state to make provision for the security of 

 the chrysalis, but many caterpillars possess it already 

 when newly issued from the egg. As an example 

 of this we may cite the case of the young caterpillar 

 of the Puss Moth (Dicranura vinula), which feeds 

 upon the upper surface of the leaves of sallow, 

 willow, and poplar. The last named are not only 

 glossy, affording an insecure foothold, but are kept 

 in a state of constant fluttering by the slightest 

 movements of the air. The tiny caterpillars, looking 

 like smuts that have clung to the leaf, and that 

 might be detached by a breath, at once set to work 

 to spin a little pad of silk on the leaf, in which the 

 hooks of their feet may catch and so enable the 



