176 



HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 



beetle within a curiously- woven cell. This beetle belongs to the 

 genus Ehagium. As long as the insect remains in its larval con- 

 dition, it diifers in little from the wood-boring larva. When, 

 however, it is about to change into the pupal state, it makes a 



BIIAOIUM, ETC. 



beautifuUy-worked cocoon in which it spends the time which 

 intervenes between the change into the pupa and that into 

 the perfect insect. The cocoon is made of woody fibres, which 

 the larva bites and tears away, and the hollow in which the 

 cocoon rests is usually in the bark. The fibres are rather long 

 and narrow, as may be seen by reference to the illustration, which 

 represents the cocoon and insect of the natural size. As the 

 woody fibres are of a pale-straw colour, the cocoon presents an 

 agreeable contrast to the sombre hues of the bark in which it is 

 bedded. When the insect has attained its perfect form, its first 

 care is to escape from the dwelling which has served it so well 

 through its long period of helplessness ; and by means of the 

 sharp and powerful jaws with which it is furnished, it gnaws a 

 hole through the side of the cocoon and so escapes into the open 

 air. In the illustration, the beetle is represented in the act of 

 making its way through the cocoon. 



The magnificent insect which is known to entomologists as 

 the Harlequin Beetle (A crociwus longimanus) also belongs to the 



