274 
DOMICILES. 
Dec., 1892. 
cocoons of this species : two made under more natural 
conditions, and two on the cork and chip box, which was the 
only material that I supplied them with. They are all 
extremely neat and secure domiciles; but you wiil see that 
the cases that were constructed on the twig—two on the same 
twig—are more compact and natural looking ; they might be 
hardly more than a casual thickening of the sallow bough, 
and much more adapted to escape detection. 
I now pass to an insect of very retired habits, which is 
well named in Latin, Reclusa ; it is, indeed, of the nature of a 
hermit or a recluse. I was once hunting on the rough 
ground that lies at the foot of the mountain called Moel 
Siabod, in North Wales. There was very little foliage about, 
and it did not look a promising locality ; but I saw under 
some low, irregular rocks, that rose up between patches of 
rather swampy ground, some straggling bushes of the dwarf 
sallow, only a foot or two high, and looking rather shrivelled 
with the heat of the first days of September, and altogether 
the worse for wear; when it flashed upon my mind that I had 
heard an entomologist say that the dwarf sallows near Moel 
Siabod were frequented by this very Eecluse Moth. I looked 
close and saw that the leaves had been considerably devoured. 
Now I will ask you to remember that the entomologist has to 
acquire one art which at the first sight may seem a little 
marvellous. He sees a leaf eaten, and he gets to know by 
experience, first, what sort of an animal has eaten it—for it 
may be anything from a saw-fly larva to a cow—and secondly 
he has to learn how long it is since it was eaten. It is 
not difficult to get to the stage when one is able to say 
with some confidence whether a leaf has been nibbled 
within the last few hours, or a couple of days ago, or a 
fortnight or more ago. You can also tell easily if the eating 
has been done within the last few minutes ; but naturally that 
rarely happens. Well, now I saw that these dwarf sallows 
had been devoured within a few hours ; and consequently the 
culprits were not far off. But for some time I could see 
nothing of them ; and was just about to conclude that I was, 
bv a hair’s breadth, too late, when I noticed an obscure 
crumpling together of some leaves. To open this was the 
work of a moment, and inside, sure enough, was the Becluse 
larva. The riddle was now an open secret; and I spent the 
next few minutes in detecting one hermit after another, and 
dragging them from their retirement. In the place where a 
short time before I could have sworn that there was not 
a single larva, I got, in no time, over a dozen; and I dare say 
that there were as many again which I missed. This 
