146 INSECTS AFFECTING THE ORANGE. 



(PI. XII, Fig. 2, a) push or eat ttu-ir way out of the pupa shell of the 

 mother, and emerge from the mouth of the basket. They almost imme- 

 diately begin to form their cases, which they make of any material soft 

 enough to be rasped by their jaws. A bit of cork, for example, is ex 

 actly suited to their wants. The process of forming the basket is curi- 

 ous, and, observed under a lens, is as follows : The larva cuts off with 

 its jaws a fragment of cork, of a size and shape determined by the cavi- 

 ty of the mouth 5 each fragment is, in fact, a mouthful, which the larva 

 ejects and places between its front legs, adding one to another to form 

 a pile, which from time to time it fastens loosely with web. (Plate 

 XII, Fig. 2, b.) Pieces are added at the sides until the pile becomes 

 a transverse tangle about as long as the body and placed at right an- 

 gles to it. Each end of the pile is fastened loosely to the surface on 

 which it rests, and several strands of silk are laid along it from end to 

 end. Then, standing with its body astride of the tangle, the larva 

 bends down its head, tind dives under the mass, turning a complete 

 somersault, so that when its head and fore part of the body appear 

 on the other side, the insect lies on its back, bound down by the fillet 

 of silk and bits of cork, which still remain fastened to the surface at 

 the ends. (Plate XII, Fig. 2, c.) With a quick movement the larva 

 twists around and stands again upon its feet, having its neck,' as it 

 were, under a yoke. (Plate XII, Fig. 2, d.) It then makes of theyoke a 

 complete collar by adding bits of cork to each end until the circle is 

 complete. Eow after row of fragments is added to this, until the collar 

 becomes a ho'.low cylinder within which the body of the little workman 

 gradually disappears. (Plate XII, Fig. 2, e.) Each fragment as it is 

 ejected from the mouth is fastened by one end to the edge of the baud, 

 and secured with a few rapid passes of the silk-producing mouth-organs. 

 From time to time the larva cuts the anchoring threads, shifts its 

 work, and fastens it down again. Like a skillful artisan it works rap- 

 idly, not stopping to finish the work as it goes, but only occasionally 

 strengthening it with a few strands of silk on the inside, until the cylin- 

 der is long enough to entirely cover its body. One end is then closed 

 up and the inside well coated and, finished with a tough lining of silk; 

 the case meantime standing upright and fastened by one end. (Plate 

 XII, Fig. 2,/.) When fully completed the larva cuts loose the anchor- 

 ing cables, and marches off, with the case borne aloft like a cap, on the 

 upturned end of its body. This case of the young larva is constantly 

 enlarged, until it becomes the basket of the adult. 



The Bag-worm appears to be single-brooded, and the winter is passed 

 by the young larvae in their cases. Pnpa3 are formed late in summer. 

 The males emerge, the females deposit their eggs and perish, and the 

 young hatch during the month of September. Hand picking must be 

 relied upon to rid the trees of Bag- worms whenever this becomes neces- 

 sary. 



Parasites. The Bag-worm is attacked by an Icbneumonid, Hemitelea 



