-9066 Insects. 
I brought home some half-dozen for attentive observation and study. 
On the 8th I noticed that each larva had cut out an endire case of the 
upper and under cuticle of the blotch in which it had been feeding: 
this is sometimes done so adroitly that the whole of the mined portion 
of the leaf is appropriated by the larva in the construction of its first 
case. The blotches, as far as I have yet observed, are always near the 
edge of the leaf. On the 10th I took the following description of the 
larva:—Body white; head shining dark brown; back of the second 
and third segments brown; no appearance of a dorsal vessel. On the 
16th it commenced enlarging its case; it then merely cut off sufficient 
of the leaf to act as a cover for one side only, and not, as on the 8th, 
cutting out an entire case. On the 17th, the larva’s body was dirty 
white; back of the three first segments dark brown, the first segment 
having a few bristles projecting from its sides; dorsal vessel darkish. 
On the 19th it made a further enlargement of its case: I must here 
observe that every addition to the case is a trifle larger, and overlaps 
that previously made. I was much interested in watching the method 
adopted by the larva in making additions to its case: having chosen a 
part of the leaf suitable for its purpose, the larva fastens a silken cord 
to the leaf and its case, so as to keep the latter in its position; then 
stretching out its body, it gnaws through the leaf, a short distance 
beyond where the silken cord is fastened; after cutting the leaf for a 
short distance it fastens another silken cord to the leaf, and so on 
alternately fastening cords and cutting the leaf until the required 
addition to its case is completed. Not the least interesting feature in 
the habits of the larva is the change of taste evinced by it for oak, in 
preference to the sloe and whitethorn, on which it feeds at the earliest 
stage of its existence; this predilection it evinces in a marked manner, 
feeding with evident relish on the green leaves, and appropriating por- 
tions of its favourite food in constructing its case. I have only as yet 
observed one moult, the covering of the head being thrown off from 
the front, the skin retiring down the larva’s body, and is then finally 
ejected from the case. : 
8. The Larva of Solenobia inconspicuella carnivorous.—I1 have 
ascertained for a fact that this larva has a slightly carnivorous taste, 
for on placing a dead Musca domestica into a jar along with several of 
these larve, on looking at the fly, after an interval of four days, I ob- 
served that its legs, wings and eyes were entirely consumed, and the 
larvee were then engaged feeding on the abdomen, a portion of which 
had been eaten. The female of this species, like that of Taleporia 
pseudobombycella, Psyche roboricolella, &c., lays its eggs inside its 
