36 



NOTE ON THE MUSEUM COLLECTION, ETC. 



blankets, our carpets, our sofas, and our collections of natural 

 history ; indeed scarcely anything escapes their devouring maws. 

 And the smallest of those small things are perhaps the most won- 

 derful of all, most of them being less bulky than the common 

 house fly. They are however very numerous, both in species 

 and individuals, and are long winged graceful creatures, chastely 

 coloured, mapped out in elegant and curious designs, and often 

 gilded with gorgeous metallic scales. Their economy, too, is 

 most varied, curious, and full of interest. Many are miners, and 

 pass their caterpillar state between the upper and lower surface 

 of leaves, in tiny shoots, in the leaves and stems of various grasses, 

 etc., nearly every plant, shrub, or tree having its peculiar spe- 

 cies. Others are wise in their own generation, and make them- 

 selves coverings of various materials. These are called " case 

 bearers," as they fabricate cases which cover their whole bodies, 

 and which they always carry about with them. Some of these 

 are formed of wool or of feathers, but the greater number are 

 made of the leaves on which the larvae feed. These are clipped 

 into form by the worker's jaws, and the seams fastened with silk. 

 In these they travel about, gnawing holes in the cuticle of leaves, 

 so that they may feed upon the pulp, which they extract as far 

 around each hole as they can reach without leaving their dwel- 

 ling, thus causing those white blotches so commonly seen on wild 

 roses and other plants. ISTot a few live in leaves, which they roll 

 up and fasten with silk, the ends being left open so that they 

 can feed or leave at pleasure. It is amusing to see how quickly 

 some of them bolt out of one end of the roll when disturbed at 

 the other ; but however quickly they may do so they appear al- 

 ways to find time for spinning a silken cord, at the end of which 

 they hang until the danger is past, when they quickly regain 

 their shelter by climbing up it. Greatly varied are the habits 

 of others of these tiny things, but enough has been said to show 

 that they are capable of forming an endless source of amusement 

 and instruction. There are also in the IMuseum a few Hymenop- 

 tera, Orthoptera, and Diptera, but too few to be arranged : we 

 must therefore leave them to the good times yet to come. 



From the foregoing it will be seen that only a beginning has 



