i: 
176 STRANGE DWELLINGS . 
the outline, keeping to the edge, and not trenching at all on 
the central portions. 
Insects belonging to three orders are known to make these 
curious habitations namely, the Lepidoptera, the Coleoptera, 
and the Diptera. Of these, the Lepidoptera are by far the most 
numerous, and belong to that group which is called, on account 
of their very minute dimensions, the Micro-Lepidoptera. These j 
are all little moths, so small that on the wing they can scarcely 1 
be recognised as moths, and look more like little flies. They are 
all very beautiful, and many of the species are truly magnificent ji 
when seen through a microscope, their plumage glittering as if I 
made of burnished gold and silver. Indeed, one genus in which 
these leaf-miners are comprised, is named Argyromiges, a title j 
based on a Greek word signifying silver. j 
As for the beetle leafiminers, they are to be found among j, 
the weevils ; and it is a remarkable fact that one of these fi 
insects belongs to the genus Cionus, which in their larval con- f 
dition are not only leaf-miners, but weavers of certain beautiful \ 
pensile cocoons. . j 
Of the Diptera, the Celery Fly ( Tephritis onopordinis ) is a 
good example. The larva of this really pretty fly, with its f 
green eyes and black and white spotted wings, feeds not only 
on the celery but on the parsnip, and does great harm to both 
plants. Gardeners often employ little boys to examine the 
celery plants, and whenever they find a 4 blister/ as they 1 
technically call it, to crush the inclosed maggot between the 
fingers. The colour of this larva is pale green, so that it is not i 
readily seen even when the blister is opened. If allowed to j 
have its own way, the larva remains in the leaf until it has 
finished its eating, and then descends into the ground, where it j 
changes into the pupal state, and remains until the following 
spring. In such a case, the leaves are often much damaged, 
the blisters being yellowish white, and the leaf itself drooping 
and half withered. 
j 
Our last examples of pensile nests are taken from the Arach- 
nida, being formed by several species of spiders. 
