262 PEMPELIA OABNELLA. 



The Lotus soon became ravaged and smothered 

 with web, while the Medico go and Trifolium had 

 scarcely been eaten, and not much worked up with 

 threads ; I therefore cut away all the tenanted webs 

 and laid them on another fine vigorous plant of Lotus 

 comiculatus, kept in reserve from the previous year 

 until now ; on this they began at once to spin threads 

 in union with their webs, and, on the 25th, seeing a 

 larva full five-eighths of an inch long, I removed it to 

 figure and keep apart on gathered food ; amongst this 

 it soon spun itself up in a close hammock within a 

 quantity of more open threads, which bound the 

 leaves together, and I thought it was about to 

 pupate, but 1 was deceived, for it moulted on the 

 28th, and assumed a coat so different, that henceforth 

 it was easy to judge of the relative progress of the 

 others. 



This individual was restored to the growing plant 

 on the 29th, and made its way to the topmost spray, 

 which was supported by a bit of stick ; here it spun 

 some stout threads, securing the spray to the stick, 

 and then lay stretched out along the stem basking in 

 the sun ; next morning there was a great increase in 

 the number of silk threads, like the outlines of a long 

 hammock, and in the evening I observed the larva a 

 little beyond them stretched to its utmost extent, 

 biting at a stalk of three small leaflets, which were 

 toppling and presently fell, but the mandibles of the 

 larva held on securely while the leaflets were dragged 

 backwards to the web, and there fixed close to some 

 other leaves, forming a bower-like shelter; to this it 

 continued daily to spin more and more threads until 

 the 7th of August, when some important work seemed 

 going on within the dense interior, for I saw two stout- 

 stems, resting on the margin of the pot at a distance 

 below, suddenly lifted up for a moment ; this was 

 repeated three or four times in succession, and by 

 evening I found the stoutest stem had been cut 

 asunder, apparently to stop further growth ; next 



