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State Agricultural Society. 525 
leaf and pass by the coarse woody midvein and the coarser veins 
which branch from it, although the leaves of the lilac are so firm and 
leathery in their texture, this measure-worm consumes the entire leaf, 
including the midvein and its branches, leaving only a stump of the 
green leaf-stem. 
We notice it as another singular habit of this worm, that, whilst 
most other worms endeavor to hide themselves from view, and do 
their work as much as possible where their operations are concealed 
and least liable to attract observation, this worm selects the most 
exposed situation it can find and places itself where it will be 
conspicuously in view. The whole company of these worms move 
away from their first location and take up their residence together, 
upon one of the most projecting branches of the lilac bush. Here, 
feeding in the night time and remaining at rest during the day, the}' 
begin at the outer end of the limb and wholly strip it of its leaves, 
advancing farther and farther along from night to night. But 
instead of remaining to repose during the day where they have last 
been feeding, and where the foliage would aid in secreting them 
from view, they crawl back to that part of the branch which has 
been entirely denuded of its leaves, and where they will be most 
openly exposed, and there suspend themselves, clinging with their 
hind feet to the stumpy leaf-stalks and the small twigs, and hanging 
perpendicularly with their heads downward. And they now present 
a very singular and interesting instance of that imitation of other 
objects which is so common among the creatures of this class. 
This faculty of mimicking other things, with which so many insects 
are endowed, is certainly one of the most curious and wonderful phe¬ 
nomena in nature ; this habit which they have, some in their larva, 
others in their perfect state, to place themselves in such situations 
and form themselves into such shapes as to appear like some other 
object in nature, to which they in reality have no relationship, no 
affinity whatever, and an object, frequently, which no one of their race 
has ever seen and cannot therefore be supposed to know that any such 
object has ever existed. The design of this counterfeiting of other 
objects undoubtedly is to protect them from being noticed and des¬ 
troyed by their greatest enemies, the birds. This is evident from the 
fact that the object which is imitated is always something to which 
birds will have a repugnance or to which they will be wholly indiffer¬ 
ent. Among the multitude of things which are mimicked we never 
meet with a berry, a seed-pod or any other object which will be 
attractive to a bird. And it is truly one of the most beautiful arrange 
