NOTES ON THE HABITS OF INSECTS. 389 



employed in their formation. The larvae when full grown 

 spin a rather thick, brown, silky cocoon, in which they 

 undergo their metamorphosis. The imago is perfectly deve- 

 loped in autumn, but does not quit the cells till spring. 



TrochiUum t'qmliforme, as is well known, is very injurious 

 to the common currant, its larva feeding on the pith of the 

 younger branches ; but there is another insect, whose ravages 

 do not appear to have attracted so much notice, perhaps from 

 its being more local, or it may be that the mischief it occasions 

 has been attributed to the more generally known destroyer. 

 Here, although T. tipuliforme is very common, the injuries 

 it occasions are not one-tenth so great as that of a little 

 moth, Lampronia capitella. 



It is nothing uncommon in the spring to see a large and 

 flourishing currant-bush just putting forth its leaves, and then 

 in a few days wither away ; just so — " si magna licet componere 

 parvis" — does he whom misfortune has overtaken in his youth 

 wither away beneath the blighting influence of the sorrow 

 which preys upon his heart. 



If we examine the young shoots, we find within them a 

 small reddish caterpillar, with something in its external form, 

 which, combined with its colour, forcibly reminds us of that of 

 Cossus ligniperda. Apparently, this larva enters the shoot 

 about an inch up it, and penetrates downwards quite to the 

 bottom of the shoot, eating the pith of this part of the shoot. 

 It then proceeds to a second, and even a third ; and when full 

 fed undergoes its metamorphosis at the bottom of the shoot. 

 In about five weeks the imago appears — " maculis insignis et 

 auro " — and may be seen flying in swarms around the currant- 

 bushes. 



Should any one be disposed to consider the above notes as 

 trifling and useless, I beg leave to say, that in all the cares, 

 troubles, and disappointments in life which I have met with, 

 and these are not few, I have found nothing so useful in 

 driving away despondency, in reviving hope, as the study of 

 nature. Truly has La Lepede said, that all that has been 

 spoken by philosophers of learning in general can be said with 

 far greater emphasis of the study of natural history. To use 

 his own words, " Elle enchante nos jeunes annees, elle plait 

 a I'age mur, elle pare la vieillesse de fleurs, dissipant les 

 chagrins, calmant les douleurs, ccartant les ennuis, allegeant Ic 



