HABITATIONS OF INSECTS. 395 



that surround their habitation, which, as they soon greatly increase in size, 

 they find it necessary to enlarge. One might fear that a structure formed 

 of such materials would at this period be sadly damaged by the growth of 

 the young shoots and leaves of the twigs which it incloses ; but the inhabi- 

 tants, as if to guard against such an accident, have gnawed off all the 

 buds within their dwelling, and thus secured themselves from this incon- 

 venience.^ * 



The nest of the larvae of another species of moth, the Cnethocampa 

 processionea, unfortunately not a native of this country, to which, on 

 account of their singular manners, that will be detailed to you in a subse- 

 quent letter, Reaumur has given the title of processionary caterpillars, is 

 somewhat different in its construction from that just described, though 

 formed of the same material. As the caterpillars which fabricate it feed 

 upon the leaves of the oak, it is always found upon this tree, attached not 

 to the branches but the trunk, sometimes at a considerable height from the 

 ground. In shape it resembles an irregular knob or protuberance, and the 

 silk which composes it being of a grey color, at a distance it would 

 be taken for a mass of lichens. Sometimes this nest is upwards of 

 eighteen inches long, and six broad, rising in the middle about four inches 

 from the surface of the tree. Between the trunk and the silken covering, 

 a single hole is left which serves for the entrance and exit of the inhabi- 

 tants. These differ in their manners from those last mentioned. While 

 very young they have no fixed habitation, contenting themselves with a 

 succession of different temporary camps until they have attained two thirds 

 of their growth. Then it is they unite their labors in spinning the nest 

 just described ; and in this they continue to reside in harmony until they 

 become perfect insects, assuming in it even the state of chrysalis.- 



Habitations similar, as to their general structure, to the above, though 

 differing in several minute circumstances, are formed by the larvae of 

 several other moths, as of Porthesia phaorrhcea, Clisiocampa iieustria, 

 &c., as well as those of Vanessa lo, Melitcea Cinxia, and some other 

 butterflies^, and even of some saw-flies (^Serrifera), which, however, have 

 each a separate silken covering. But as it would be tedious to describe 

 these particularly, I pass on to the habitations formed by insects in their 

 perfect state, which have in view the education of their young as well as 

 of self-preservation, describing in succession those of ants, bees, wasps, 

 and white ants. 



Of these the most simple in their structure are the nests of different 

 kinds of ants, many of which externally present the appearance of hillocks 

 more or less conical, formed of earth or other substances. 



The nest of the large red or horse ants (i^. rufa), which are common 

 in woods, at the first aspect seems a very confused mass. Exteriorly it is 

 a conical mount composed of pieces of straw, fragments of wood, little 

 stones, leaves, grain ; in short, of any portable materials within their 

 reach. But however rude its outward appearance, and the articles of 



> Reaum. ii. 128. 2 Reaum. ii. 179. 



^ The habits of a Mexican species of butterfly (Eucheira socinlis Westw.), of which the 

 larvae construct a strong white parchment-like bag, in which they reside and undergo their 

 transformations, have been described by Mr. Westwood in the Trans, of the Ent. Soc. of 

 London, vi. pi. vi. 



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