Microscopical Essays, 317 



of it's feet, and by this means bends the leaf ; it then fpins another 

 thread, to maintain the leaf in this pofitioh, which it again pulls 

 towards itfelf, and repeats the operation, till it has bent the leaf 

 in it's whole direction. It now begins again, placing the threads 

 further back upon the bent part of the leaf, and by proceeding in 

 this manner, it is rolled up ; when it has finilhed this bufinefs, it 

 ftrengthens the work, by fattening the ends of the leaf together. 

 The habitation thus formed is a kind of hollow cylinder, open to 

 the light at both ends, the fides of it affording the infecl; food and 

 prote6tion, for within it the creature feeds in fafety. In the fame 

 cafe they are alfo transformed : at the approach of the change the 

 caterpillar lines the rolled leaf with fiik, that the rough parts of it 

 may not injure the chryfalis. 



A great number of the fmaller larva require an artificial 

 covering, to protect them, from the open air. Among thefe, 

 fome inhabit the interior parts of leaves, making their way 

 between the fuperior and inferior membranes, living upon the 

 parenchymous parts of the leaf: and as they are exceeding fmall, 

 a leaf affords them a fpacious habitation* If the diftanee between 

 the membranes is not large enough for them, they enlarge the 

 fpace by forming different folds in one of them, in which they 

 can move with eafe : from thefe circumftances they have been 

 named by Mr. Reaumur miners of leaves. This illu'lrious author 

 has defcribed. thefe larva, the flies into which they are -c h an aed, 

 and all the various methods made ufe of by them in performing 

 this work. Some mine a large oval or circular fpace ; others, 

 form a kind of gallery, which are fometimes ftrait, fome mes 

 crooked. They only leave a thin membrane on the upper fide 

 of the leaf; but they leave the under fide more fuMantial. One 



fpecies* 



