THE INTELLECTUAL OBSERVES. 



AUGUST, 1863. 



MICRO-LEPIDOPTERA. 

 (COLEOPHORA, OR TENT-MAKERS.) 



BY L. LANE CLAEKE. 



(WitJi a Coloured Plate.) 



If these summer months are favourable for the study of leaf- 

 mining caterpillars, and the abundance and variety of their 

 hieroglyphics arrest our eye in every walk, and give new speci- 

 mens for our cabinet, not less so are these mouths, from June 

 "to October, for collection of the curious and interesting Coleo- 

 phorum. The moths themselves are not nearly so beautiful as 

 the 'NejpticuldB and IAtliocolletis ; the wings are lanceolate, uni- 

 coloured, or striped with silken-gray under-wings, and they sit 

 with bodies closely pressed to the substance on which they 

 rest, with antennae thrown forward, much like the Tischerice. 



The larvae of this genus are the objects of our present 

 research and interest, because their habits manifest an instinct 

 and design which open for us a delightful field of observation. 

 They feed upon the parenchyma of leaves, and mine irregular 

 blotches as they feed ; but with the cuticle, or leaf itself, or husk 

 of seed, it fashions a tent, under which it walks about, and 

 within which it retires when the time of its pupa rest has come, 

 and the resurrection into perfect life is at hand. 



As a general rule for the guidance of young naturalists, 

 when we find a blotched or mined leaf with a round hole, as 

 truly outlined as if drilled with a centre-bit, we may be sure 

 that a Coleophora has been feeding there, and this little hole was 

 the entrance into his pasture-ground, covered closely by its 

 tent, whilst the owner penetrated into the soft, juicy parenchyma, 

 and stretched away, as far as its body would reach, on all sides, 

 careful only to keep its anal hooks at the tent door to secure a 

 retreat on the least alarm. 



vol. rv. — NO. I. B 



