Notices of New Books, 



8227 



two broods in the year ; the larvae which feed in July produce moths 

 in August ; the eggs laid by these furnish the caterpillars which we 

 find in September and October ; these remain the whole winter in the 

 pupa state, and produce moths from the middle of May to the middle 

 of June." — (P. 49). 



Here follows a minute description of the imago. 



"Description of the Larva. — Length 2j lines. Pale olive greenish 

 gray, with a darker stripe along each side ; spots whitish ; head pale 

 brown ; second segment brownish gray, with two rows of small black 

 dots. The above is the description of the external-feeding larva ; before 

 it quits the mine it is very different ; it is then entirely yellowish, with 

 a brown black band and a T-shaped mark on the back of the second 

 segment."— (P. 52). 



The following passages cited from the writings of the immortal 

 Lyonnet are still more interesting. I do not hesitate to transcribe them, 

 since the posthumous volume of Lyonnet's works published by Dr. 

 Hann, in which they occur, is very little known, and I may almost say 

 never read in this country. 



" This industrious larva is little more than two lines long. It has 

 sixteen legs ; under a lens its body appears covered with tubercles the 

 colour of parchment; along the back is a broad grayish streak; the 

 rest of the body is brown; the seventh and eighth segments appeared 

 to me darker than the others, and on the first segment instead of tuber- 

 cles we see eight black dots. 



Ci These caterpillars keep on the under side of the leaves of the oak, 

 which they gnaw without covering themselves up, and there also they 

 construct their cocoons, which mine did during the month of August. 



"These cocoons are whitish and ribbed; one counts between the 

 grooves seven ribs, which run the whole length of the cocoon, but 

 which appear to have been broken and patched again a little beyond 

 the middle ; the very singular form of these cocoons made me anxious 

 to see how the insect set to work to construct them, and on the 20th 

 of August, 1744, I had an opportunity of satisfying my curiosity. 



t( I then saw that the larva first commenced by surrounding itself by 

 twenty posts (so to speak), which it ranged in an ellipse around it : 

 these imitation posts were constructed of silk ; they were stiff, elastic 

 and thicker towards the base than towards the top ; they form no part 

 of the cocoon itself, and I can conceive no other use for them than 

 that of protecting the larva, whilst at work, from coming in contact with 

 leaves or other substances, which, agitated by the wind, might other- 

 wise inconvenience it. 



