LEAF-MINEES. 507 



have been bred from such caterpillars are so small that they have 

 almost escaped observation until comparatively late years. 



How small these insects are may be imagined from the fact 

 that many species of the Microlepidoptera, as they are fitly 

 named, do not occupy, even with their wings spread, a space 

 larger than is taken up by the capital letter at the beginning of 

 this sentence. To "set" these tiny creatures is necessarily an 

 extremdy difficult task, and cannot be accomplished by the 

 ordinary plan of running a pin through the thorax, and extend- 

 ing the wings on the "setting-board." The only method of 

 displaying them is to set them on white cardboard by means of 

 gum, which is strengthened by many entomologists with various 

 substances. A sheet of cardboard covered with specimens of 

 Microlepidoptera neatly set is a very pretty sight, but needs the 

 aid of the microscope before it can be perfectly seen. 



Even to the unaided eye, the tiny moths are seen to be beauti- 

 fully decorated, their wings gleaming in favourable lights like 

 the throat of the humming-bird. But when placed imder the 

 microscope, especially if it be furnished with a binocular tube, 

 and illuminated by a suitable light, the wings are positively 

 dazzling in their brightness, and hues that formerly seemed to 

 be but dun and bronze or brown, suddenly flash out into gold 

 and emerald, each scale distinct and shining as if of burnished 

 metal 



Sometimes, when opening the extremity of the leafy tunnel, 

 we find a tiny chrysalis lying in the little chamber, and awaiting 

 the time for the shell to burst and the perfect insect to emerge. 

 Later in the year, we shall find neither larva nor pupa, but shall 

 see a little hole in the leafy chamber, from which issues the 

 shattered end of an empty chrysahs-shell, showing that the 

 moth has made its escape into the outer air. 



Two examples of other mined leaves may be seen upon the 

 illustration, both drawn from the actual object. The specimen 

 in the right-hand upper corner was taken from the bramble, and 

 has been mined by the larva of a little moth called Ifeptieula 

 anomella. It is a very pretty little creature, though its hues are 

 not brilliant without the aid of the microscope. The upper 

 wings are brown, but their tips are beautifully coloured with 

 bright chestnut. The lower wings are pale grey, without any of 

 the brilliancy that distinguishes the upper pair. They possess. 



