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INSECT ARCHITECTURE. 



bitants, whose slow movements disqualify them from 

 effecting an escape.* 



The effects of the punctme of aphides on growing 

 plants is strikingly illustrated in the shoots of tlie 

 lime-tree and several other plants, which become 

 bent and contorted on the side, attaciied by the insects, 

 in the same way as the shoot might warp by the loss 

 of its juices on the side exposed to a brisk fire. The 

 curvings thus effected become very advantageous to 

 the insects, for the leaves sprouting from the twig, 

 which naturally grow at a distance liom each other, 

 are brought close together in a bunch, forming a 

 kind of nosegay, that conceals all tiie contour of 

 the sprig, as well as the insects which are em- 

 bowered under it, protecting them against the rain 

 and the sun, and at the same time hiding them 

 from observation. It is only requisite, however, 



Shnot of the Lime-tree contorted by the punctures of the Aphis TiUa. 



where they have formed bowers of this descrip- 

 tion, to raise the leaves in order to see the little 

 colony of the aphides, — or the remains of those 

 * J. R. 



