GNAT CLEAR- WING WOLF MOTH. 211 



tect consisted in scraping the cell almost to the surface of the 

 wood, leaving only an exterior covering of unbroken wood, as 

 thin as writing-paper. Previous, therefore, to the chrysalis mak- 

 ing its way through this feeble barrier, it could not have been 

 suspected that an insect was lodged under the smooth wood. We 

 observed more than one of these insects in the act of breaking 

 through this covering, within which there is besides a round 

 movable lid, of a sort of brown wax." 



The last-mentioned peculiarity is worthy of special notice, be- 

 cause it is not a general feature in the history of the Clear-wings. 

 Just when they are about to change into the pupal form, they 

 usually nibble a hole through the exterior of the branch, and then 

 make a partial cocoon out of the debris, taking care to place them- 

 selves so that the head is toward the orifice. The abdominal seg- 

 ments of the chrysalis are furnished with points directed back- 

 ward, so that by alternately extending and contracting the abdo- 

 men, the creature is pushed onward. "When it is going to break 

 out of its chrysalis case it uses these little points, and forces itself 

 partially through the hole, thus allowing the perfect moth to is- 

 sue at once into the world. 



All gardeners should beware of one very pretty little species, 

 the Gnat Clear-wing {JEgeria tipuliformis), which is often to be 

 found upon currant-bushes, sitting itself upon the leaves, enjoying 

 the warm sunbeams, and ever and a»on opening and closing its 

 fan-like tail. The larva of this insect lives in the young shoots 

 of the currant, and in some seasons damages the crops consider- 

 ably. 



With two more species of lepidopteran burrowers we must close 

 our list, one of them boring into wood and the other into wax. 



The first of these insects, Tinea granella, is sometimes called 

 the Wolf Moth. It is a very small insect, and is closety allied 

 to the common clothes moth, so deservedly hated by fur-dealers, 

 careful housewives, and keepers of museums. The larva of this 

 insect feeds upon the corn, covering it at the same time with a 

 tissue of silken threads. The most curious portion of the life of 

 this insect is, that after the larva has finished eating the corn, it 

 proceeds to the sides of the granary, and there burrows into the 

 wood, making its holes so closely together that, if the timber had 

 been taken out of the sea, the Gribble would have had the credit 

 of the tunnels. Nothing seems to stop this little creature, and it 

 bores through deal planks with perfect ease, making its way even 



