204 



INSECT LIFE. 



Fig. 170. — Larva of the sUver-spotted skipper. 



flower to flower with a skipping motion (see page 81 

 for the characteristics of the skippers). This skipper 

 is dark chocolate-brown, with a row of yellow spots 

 extending across the fore wing, and with a large, 



silvery white spot 

 on the lower side of 

 the hind wing. The 

 larva is a curious 

 creature, with a 

 large head, a slen- 

 der neck, and a spindle-shaped body (Fig. 170), and 

 will serve as a type of the family Hesperiid^ (Hes- 

 pe-ri'i-dse), which includes our common skippers; 

 for the larvae of this family can be recognized by 

 this peculiar form, and most of them live concealed 

 in a folded leaf or in a nest made of several leaves 

 fastened together. 



The Bag-worms, family PsYCHiDiE (Psy'chi-dae). 

 — The bag-worms are those caterpillars 

 that have the curious habit of building 

 each for itself a silken sac covered with 

 little twigs within which it lives (Figs. 

 171 and 172). When the caterpillar 

 wishes to move from one place to an- 

 other, it pushes forth the front end of 

 its body and creeps along, carrying its 

 house with it. It is said that the spe- 

 cies that inhabit Ceylon are believed by 

 the natives to be composed of individ- 

 uals who, in a previous incarnation, 

 were human beings and stole kindling- 

 wood, and who now atone for the theft by repeating 

 the act as an insect. 



