GOAT-MOTH. 



189 



selves up in it, and do not again protrude more than 

 half of their body to procure materials; and even 

 when they have dragged a stone, a shell, or a chip of 

 reed within building reach, they have often to reject it 

 as unfit.* 



Carpenter-Caterpillars. 



Insects, though sometimes actuated by an instinct 

 apparently blind, unintelligent, or unknown to them- 

 selves, manifest in other instances a remarkable adap- 

 tation of means to ends. We have it in our power to 

 exemplify this in a striking manner by the proceed- 

 ings of the caterpillar of a goat-moth ( Cossus ligni- 

 perda) which we kept till it underwent its final 

 change. 



Caterpillar of Goat-Moth in a Willow Tree. 



This caterpillar, which abounds in Kent and many 

 other parts of the island, feeds on the wood of 

 willows, oaks, poplars, and other trees, in which it 

 eats extensive galleries; but it is not contented with 

 the protection afforded by these galleries during 



