OF PAPILIONACEOUS INSECTS. 43 
off this hair with the pincers, which are at the point 
of their ovipositors. A downy-like bed is first formed 
on the surface of some leaf, upon which they place 
in succession layers of eggs, taking care to surround 
them with a coating of a similar kind. When they 
have deposited the whole number, they lay a neat 
thatched-like roof of hair over the surface. 
These little creatures are endowed with a peculiar 
instinct, which looks remarkably like intelligence ; 
for the hairs employed in forming the inside of the 
nest are placed promiscuously, while those used for 
the external covering, are arranged with perfect 
regularity, and such skill, that they render the nests 
impervious to water ; one layer lies over the other, 
with such neat precision, that, as Mr Kirby says, 
the whole resembles a well-brushed piece of shaggy 
cloth, or fur. When the female has finished her 
labour, in which she is usually employed about 
twenty-four hours, and in some cases forty-eight, 
her body, which was before thickly beset with hair, 
is now rendered quite naked, She has thus denuded 
herself for her offspring’s sake, and, having completed 
the last task assigned to her by Nature, she finishes 
her earthly pilgrimage, and expires. 
Creative power has made provision for the fulfil- 
ment of all these singular instincts in a wonderful 
manner. The little Gipsy Moth (Hypogymna 
dispar) does not exist in its perfect condition more 
than fourteen days, and often not more than a week. 
VOL. I. D 
