306 
HALF HOUHS WITH INSECTS. [Packard. 
allows the insects to escape into the open air.” These galls 
can scarcely be regarded as evidences of architectural skill, 
as they are indirectly due to the simple punctures of the 
beak of the insect, not to an intellectual act. 
Among the beetles we shall not find evidence of any con¬ 
siderable skill in building. The habit of the Chlamys of 
building a compact little case has already been referred to. 
Its case is black, and appears to be formed of little pellets 
of excrement, with a seam along the middle of the under 
Fig. 236. 
Sumac gall. 
side, which readily spreads open when the sac is pressed. 
The case is slightly contracted at the entrance, where the 
pellets are a little larger than elsewhere. 
The weevils are the lowest of the beetles, and yet they 
display in some cases great ingenuity in providing appropri¬ 
ate places in which to lay their eggs. I have often watched 
the doings of the Attelabus rhois (Fig. 238 represents an¬ 
other species, A. analis) while rolling up the leaves of the 
alder. Late in June and during the early part of July in 
