366 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [Oct., 'l/ 



to make the upper end fast to the under side of the aphid's 

 body, but failed to make it adhere. Again and again it made 

 the same efifort, but for some reason, perhaps because the sup- 

 ply of silk was insufficient, not a single strand spanned the gap. 

 It labored vigorously, rotating an entire circle in its anxiety to 

 succeed. All the while the cauda, and at times half of its body, 

 was hidden from view within the aphid's body, to which it yet 

 clung. For nearly fifteen minutes it twisted and turned, then 

 seemed to grow weary of its fruitless efforts and withdrew 

 entirely inside the body of the aphid. 



After a rest of about ten minutes it once more showed its 

 head outside, followed again by nearly the entire body, retain- 

 ing as before a slight hold by means of the tip of the cauda. 

 This time the spinning was successfully inaugurated and the 

 head went ceaselessly from the leaf to the body above, leaving 

 a ragged and irregular barricade of uneven and perpendicular 

 silk threads arranged in a rude circle. By its serpent-like 

 movements in confined quarters, the larva partly lifted and 

 supported the empty skin of its host on a bend of its writhing 

 body, and as it shifted its position during its slow rotation, 

 tlie bodv above rocked like a boat in a gale. Gradually the 

 row of simple upright strands began insensibly to grow more 

 complex, braces stiffened them at the lower end. diagonal 

 threads were occasionally thrown against them and the struc- 

 ture assumed more and more the appearance of a real fabric. 

 The larva worked cleverly, straining the threads at times al- 

 most to the breaking point, but never doing any actual dam- 

 age to its previous work. Never for a moment did it pause in 

 its labor during all the hours it was under observation. It 

 seemed to realize to some extent the meagerness of its re- 

 sources and the necessity of haste in creating a shelter. 



After about two hours of unremitting efforts the structure 

 was near enough completed to justify it in abandoning its for- 

 mer home, so it withdrew its mucilaginous bulk from its birth- 

 place and coiled itself within the mesh of fibers that had been 

 spun. It seemed hardly possible that it could move about in so 

 small a space, but it showed wonderful elasticity and went to 

 work more feverishly than ever, turning slowly around to dis- 



