36 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 95 



The shelters made by the young caterpillars (pi. 7, figs. 41, 42) are 

 very characteristic. In the leaflet a cut is made running diagonally in 

 from the edge, the inner end of the cut being nearer the base of the 

 leaflet than the outer. Then nearer the base of the leaf a second cut 

 is made, much shorter than the first, running inward at right angles to 

 the edge of the leaflet to a point near the inner end of the first cut. The 

 wedge-shaped flap thus formed is then turned inward over the upper 

 surface of the leaflet (see pi. 7, fig. 40). The caterpillar now draws 

 the two ends of the short edge of the flap toward each other and 

 fastens the free angle to the surface of the leaflet near the inner end 

 of the cut so that this border, originally the shorter edge of the flap, 

 forms a high narrow arch. Beginning at the top of the arch the cater- 

 pillar fastens the sides of the highly arched opening tightly together, 

 working downward as far as possible toward the bottom, but always 

 leaving a low-triangular opening at the bottom (pi. 7, fig. 39). The 

 acute angle formed by the edge of the leaflet and the longer cut is now 

 fastened down to the surface of the leaflet as far away as possible 

 from the edge of the leaflet, so that the edge of the longer cut and that 

 edge of the flap that was originally the edge of the leaflet lie close 

 down upon the upper surface of the leaflet. The only portions of the 

 flap that are fastened to the surface of the leaflet are the angles 

 between the original outer edge of the leaflet and the two cuts. 



The result of this operation is a shelter that in shape resembles a 

 limpet with the apex of its shell near one end, or a broad cone cut very 

 diagonally. The apex of this structure was originally the middle of the 

 shorter cut in the leaflet, now folded together. 



The apex or peak of the shelter is secured by a broad and very dense 

 mass of silk, and a very dense band closes the opening in front. At 

 each end of the line forming the hinge where the liending of the flap 

 over the upper surface of the leaf takes place there is a large amount of 

 silk in a dense band forming a sort of bracket that holds the flap in the 

 proper position over the upper surface of the leaflet. These two 

 brackets are commonly connected by a close network of silk running 

 from one to the other — that is, along the line of folding. A broad and 

 rather dense network of silk is run down the middle of the roof of the 

 shelter to furnish a footing for the caterpillar when resting during 

 the day. The whole floor of the shelter is covered with a fairly close 

 network, the caterpillar working inward from the edges, where the silk 

 is laid down most thickly. This last network has the effect of making 

 the floor of the shelter concave, thus giving more room within it. 



