96 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. 



together pieces of peculiar shapes, as cunningly as 

 a tailor fashions the back of a coat; and in this 

 work the seams, too, are as neat and regular. 

 Many other methods are followed by these small 

 larvse in constructing leaf houses, in which as much 

 ingenuity and geometrical precision is displayed as 

 that which the Bee exhibits in the plan and exe- 

 cution of the wonderful " honeycomb." 



The Tinea Sersatilla makes its house entirely 

 of the silken web, which it spins in a similar manner 

 to that of the Silk-worm ; in this case, however, it is 

 not merely a cocoon in which the transformation is 

 to take place, but at the same time a little tent, 

 which serves it for a locomotive living house before 

 it becomes a temporary tomb. This tent is care- 

 fully pitched at a certain spot, where the pulpy 

 surface of the leaf seems most inviting, and there 

 secured by far-stretching threads, similar to those 

 of an ordinary camp tent. 



When all the surface beneath this shelter has 

 been consumed, the tent is removed ; till at last, 

 when the larva has ceased to desire food, and is 

 about to change, the little tent serves as the pro- 

 tection for the pupa or chrysalis. The minute 

 silky excrescences often seen on the backs of pear 

 leaves are the tents of this little larva, and on 



