45$ HABITATIONS OF INSECTS. 



to compose her roll. She does not however entirely de- 

 tach it : it would then want a base. She detaches that 

 part only which is to form the contour of the horn. This 

 portion is a triangular strap, which she rolls as she cuts. 

 When the body of the horn is finished, as it is intended 

 to be fixed upon the leaf in nearly an upright position, it 

 is necessary to elevate it. To effect this, she proceeds as 

 we should with an inclined obelisk. She attaches threads 

 or little cables towards the point of the pyramid, and 

 raises it by the weight of her body a . 



A still greater degree of dexterity is manifested in 

 fabricating the habitations of the larvae of some other 

 Tineae which feed on the leaves of the rose-tree, apple, 

 elm, and oak, on the under-side of which they may in 

 summer be often found. These form an oblong cavity 

 in the interior of a leaf by eating the parenchyma be- 

 tween the two membranes composing its upper and under 

 side, which, after having detached them from the sur- 

 rounding portion, it joins with silk so artfully that the 

 seams are scarcely discoverable even with a lens, so as to 

 compose a case or horn, cylindrical in the middle, its 

 anterior orifice circular, its posterior triangular. Were 

 this dwelling cylindrical in every part, the form of the 

 two pieces that compose it would be very simple ; but 

 the different shape of the two ends renders it necessary 

 that each side should have peculiar and dissimilar cur- 

 vatures; and Reaumur assures us, that these are as 

 complex and difficult to imitate as the contours of the 

 pieces of cloth that compose the back of a coat. Some 

 of this tribe, whose proceedings I had the pleasure of 

 a Bonnet, ix. 188= 



