TAILORS 207 



America, Porfhyrasfis trisiis, which is even more 

 remarkable. He says it " is apparently a common 

 insect at Bahia, where it lives on a cocoa-palm. 

 The larva is short and broad, and completely 

 covers itself with a very dense coat of fibres, each 

 many times the length of the body, and elaborately 

 curved so as to form a round nest under which the 

 larva lives. On examination it is found that these 

 long threads are all attached to the anal extremity 

 of the insect, and there seems no alternative to 

 believing that each thread is formed by small 

 pieces of fibre that have passed through the ali- 

 mentary canal, and are subsequently stuck together, 

 end to end. The process of forming these long 

 fibres, each one from scores of pieces of excrement, 

 and giving them the appropriate curve, is truly 

 remarkable. The fibres nearest to the body of 

 the larva are abruptly curled so as to fit exactly, 

 and make an even surface ; but the outside fibres 

 stand out in a somewhat bushy fashion. The con- 

 struction is much like that of a tiny bird's nest. 

 Senor Lacerda informed the writer that the larva 

 makes a nest as soon as it is hatched." 



The Brown Lacewing {Hemerobius) in its larval 

 condition is known as the Aphis Lion, from the 

 havoc it creates in a cluster of the Green Fly, 

 seizing them and sucking them dry. From each 

 segment of its body on either side the larva has 

 fleshy projections from which extend several long 

 hairs. Upon these, with the aid of a few threads, 

 it supports the empty skins of the aphides it has 



