HABITATIONS OF INSECTS. 479 



bitadon, contenting themselves with a succession of dif- 

 ferent temporary camps until they have attained two- 

 thirds of their growth. Then it is they unite their la- 

 bours in spinning the nest just described ; and in this 

 they continue to reside in harmony until they become per- 

 fect insects, assuming in it even the state of chrysalis 3 . 



Habitations similar, as to their general structure, to 

 the above, though differing in several minute circum- 

 stances, are formed by the larvae of several other moths, 

 as of Bombyx phceorrhea of Curtis, B. neustria, &c. as 

 well as those of Papilio lo, P. Cinxia, and some other 

 butterflies : and even of some Tenthredinidce, which, how- 

 ever, have each a separate silken covering. But as it 

 would be tedious to describe these particularly, I pass on 

 to the habitations formed by insects in their perfect state, 

 which have in view the education of their young as well 

 as self-preservation, describing in succession those of 

 tints, bees, wasps, and termites. 



Of these the most simple in their structure are the 

 nests of different kinds of ants, many of which externally 

 present the appearance of hillocks more or less conical, 

 formed of earth or other substances. 



The nest of the large red ants (F. nifa, L.) which are 

 common in woods, at the first aspect seems a very confused 

 mass. Exteriorly it is a conical mount composed of pieces 

 of straw, fragments of wood, little stones, leaves, grain ; 

 in short, of any portable materials within their reach. 

 But however rude its outward appearance, and the articles 

 of which it consists, interiorly it presents an arrange- 

 A Reaiun. ii. 179. 



