Larvae and their Work 



like skin. Now the leaf-miners are very ingeniously 

 protected from their enemies, and that without the least 

 effort on their own part. The mother moth, beetle or fly 

 lays her eggs either on, or just below, the surface of the 

 leaf skin, and directly the caterpillar hatches it makes a 

 hole through the skin, if its mother has not already done so, 

 and proceeds to feed upon the luscious green food below. 

 It walks as it feeds, so that before long a sinuous tunnel 

 is excavated in the leaf, resembling a winding river on 

 a map. 



The farther the caterpillar winds its way, the wider 

 the tunnel becomes, for as the insect grows it naturally 

 requires more and more room. Accordingly it eats away 

 more of the green part of the leaf. By the time the 

 insect is ready to turn into a chrysalis its leafy burrow is of 

 a considerable length. At its termination the change into 

 a chrysalis takes place and the perfect insect eats its way 

 to freedom at a later date. What an elysian existence ! 

 Food in plenty and absolute protection from enemies and 

 the elements, for the leaf skin prevents any harm coming 

 to the caterpillar short of a pinch from human ringers. 



All the larvae we have described so far live lonely lives 

 apart from their fellows. There are certain caterpillars 

 which club together for mutual protection ; not, be it said, 

 in recognised social comnunities, as the bees and ants, but 

 in simple herding together for safety's sake. These larvae 

 are known as tent caterpillars, because they construct 

 silken tents of remarkably tough material, beneath which 

 they take shelter in time of danger. It is wellnigh 

 impossible to relate the shape of any of these tents, say 

 the one constructed by the small ermine moth larvae. 

 They are simply sheets of silk, woven in an irregular manner, 

 on the branch of some food plant, to form a hollow shelter 

 for the voracious creatures within. 



It is not long before all the leaves enclosed by the tent 

 have been eaten, but before this tragic event occurs the 

 larvae have grown considerably and are better able to 



