THE HOUSE-BUILDER MOTH. 167 



other, very much Hke the rods in the old Roman fasces, which 

 were borne by the Hctors before the consuls. So close indeed 

 is the resemblance, that by some writers the insects have been 

 called Lictor Moths. 



The reader will observe that in the illustration the nest is 

 shown as depending from the caterpillar, part of which pro- 

 trudes from its mouth and the other part is hidden. This atti- 

 tude is given because it is that in which the insect is generally 

 seen. While young the caterpillar is so strong, and the house 

 is so light, that it can carry the tail nearly upright. 



Scraps of wood mixed with fragments of leaves are the mate- 

 rials which are used, and they are bound together very firmly 

 by the silken threads with which so many caterpillars are en- 

 dowed, whether they belong to the butterflies or moths. There 

 is a tolerable degree of elasticity about it, especially at the 

 mouth, which is slightly expanded so as to assume an irregular 

 funnel-like shape, and can be drawn together at will by means 

 of the silken threads attached to its circumference. The cater- 

 pillar has thus two means of guarding itself from attacks. If it 

 is still clinging to a branch, it can retreat into the house and 

 press the mouth so firmly against the branch that it is closed 

 effectively, just as a limpet shelters its soft body by pressing the 

 top of the shell against the rock. Or, if detached, it can pull 

 the lips together and thus shut itself up in its strange house as 

 completely as a box tortoise in its shell. 



Not only does the creature reside in this nest during its larval 

 condition, but also passes the pupal stage in it, and sometimes 

 the whole of its life. As soon as it ceases from feeding, and is 

 about to become a pupa, it retires far into its cell, shuts up the 

 mouth, throws off its last caterpillar skin, and there remains 

 until the larva has become a perfect insect. Should the moth 

 be of the male sex, it creeps out of the domicile and speedily 

 takes to wing, employing itself in the great object of its life, 

 that of seeking a mate. 



In ordinary cases, to find a mate seems to be no difficult 

 task, but the House-builder Moth has no ordinary obstacles to 

 overcome. The female never leaves her cell, for she would be 



