606 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 



to them, and at last become entirely indifferent. Even when they 

 do take the trouble to collect and send home a few objects, they 

 do so in such a manner that they are almost uselessj no descrip- 

 tion being given of them, and no clew afforded which can help 

 the home-staying student 



Here, however, proper pains have been taken, and the value of 

 the objects is in consequence multiplied a hundred-fold. A num- 

 ber of nests were sent as they were collected from, the branches, 

 and, in order to show that the architect is not confined to one spe- 

 cies of tree, they have been carefully selected from several trees, 

 such as the oak, acacia, and alder. My specimens are taken from 

 the last-mentioned tree. Knowing that the pupse would become 

 moths in the course of the voyage, Mr. Tomkinson placed a num- 

 ber of them in the box, so that a perfect series of the insect has 

 been obtained, namely, the male and female, pupa and larva, some 

 in the dried state and others in spirits, in order that the internal 

 anatomy might be examined. 



Before the male caterpillar changes into a chrysalis it reverses 

 its position, so that the head is close to the orifice which was pre- 

 viously occupied by the tail. When it has completed its change, 

 and is about to issue into the world, it forces itself out of the nest 

 as far as the base of the abdomen. The female never leaves her 

 home, and never changes her attitude, and scarcely changes her 

 form. After she has emerged from the pupal state she seems to 

 return to her former condition, and would be taken by any ordi- 

 nary observer for a caterpillar of more than ordinary fatness. 

 She has no wings, and no legs to speak of, these members being 

 needless in a creature that never changes her position. It is rath- 

 er curious that the males should ever be able to find their spouses, 

 but they are probably led by an instinct which we can not com- 

 prehend, as is the case with several of the larger British moths. 



The male is a rather small though stoutly-made insect, and is 

 not at all attractive in color, being simple brown, with a few black 

 markings on the wings. The antenn£e, however, are very bea,u- 

 tiful, being doubly feathered, like those of the House-builder Moth, 

 the feathering being widest at the base, and narrowing gradually 

 to the tip. The whole of the body is clothed with long, dense, 

 and soft hair, of a pale brown, and having a silken lustre. These 

 beautiful nests were brought to the Museum by B. H. Armitage, 

 Esq., who kindly presented me with the specimens which have 

 been described. 



