CUKIOUS NEST. 463 



So much for the exterior. On opening the nest, however, a 

 most singular state of things was discovered. A great number 

 of pupae, evidently those of some butterfly, were suspended by 

 their tails to the walls and to the twig which runs down the nest. 

 In this nest they were about one hundred in number, and they 

 were hung to the whole of the upper part of the nest, but without 

 any particular order. 



On seeing this nest, an entomologist naturally asks how and 

 when the insects made it. That they did not form it of a small 

 size, and then add to its dimensions in order to suit their growth, 

 is evident from the fact that no trace of enlargement can be per- 

 ceived. It is most probable that, as in the case of the procession- 

 ary moth, the caterpillars spin their silken home when they are 

 three parts grown, and, in consequence, have but a short time to 

 spend in it before they pass into the quiescent pupal form. 



It is evident that the insects make their escape from their pen- 

 sile home as soon as they have broken out of the pupal skin, be- 

 cause the aperture is so small that they could not possibly pass 

 through it when their wings were thoroughly expanded and 

 dried. Of what form and color these wings might be was for a 

 long time a mystery. Mr. Westwood, who first opened a nest, 

 carefully dissected some of the pupae, and by cautiously softening 

 the withered membranes in warm water, succeeded in spreading 

 out the wings sufficiently to learn the general form of the ner- 

 vures and the shape of the " cells," as the spaces between the ner- 

 vures are named. 



Specimens of the perfect insect have now been obtained, and 

 are seen to be butterflies closely resembling in shape the lovely 

 Heliconidae, which are so plentiful in Southern America, but of 

 very simple colors, the general hue being blackish-brown, diver- 

 sified by a broad, but indistinctly marked white band across the 

 wings. Examples of the nest have lately been sent to Vienna, 

 but any one who wishes to see the specimen from which the 

 above sketch and description were taken may do so by visiting 

 the museum at Oxford, where the perfect butterflies may also be 

 seen. The scientific name of the butterfly is Eucheira socialis. 



Oisr the upper part of the same illustration may be seen a curi- 

 ous object, that looks something like a flattened pincushion fast- 

 ened to the branches. This is the nest of a social insect, and 

 is, I believe, a unique specimen. It was brought from Tropical 



