60 
HALF HOURS WITH INSECTS. [Packard. 
along the outer edge of the stripe; a row of blackish dots 
along a pale shade just outside of the front edge of the wing, 
and two rows of blackish dots diverging upon the tip or apex 
of the wdng. The fringe is marked with a few dark spots. 
The middle of the wing next the white band is darker than 
the front edge, while a faint yellowish shade runs along the 
middle of the outer half of the wing towards the tip, enclos¬ 
ing a few black dots. It expands a little over half an inch. 
Should young plants be attacked by the worms, the best 
remedy would be to shower them with soapsuds. For the 
autumnal brood of worms the plants should be plentifully 
showered; and if this is not efficacious, the worms should be 
picked off by hand, the cocoons especially. 
The Garden Leaf Roller. — One of the most intelligent 
and industrious of our garden pests is the leaf-rolling cater¬ 
pillar, which as soon as the leaves unfold in the spring 
begins to draw them together in an ingenious manner by 
silken threads, in order to make a rude sort of domicile 
where it may live hidden from the sharp eyes of its feathered 
and insect enemies. By the first of June its presence in the 
terminal shoots of the apple, the rose, and other shrubs, 
together with the strawberry, may be detected by the crum¬ 
pled and distorted mass of leaves at the end of the shoot, 
or, if the strawberry plant, by the leaves being sewed 
together in a tangled head. 
How is the following problem in mechanics to be solved ? 
How does the tiny worm pull the leaves together, and sew 
them into a rude sort of tube or tent ? The little creature 
begins by spinning a thread‘and attaching one end to some 
fixed point, and then attaching the other to the loose leaf. 
By means of the powerful muscular movements of the front 
part of the body, and like a sailor, except that our caterpil¬ 
lar uses its teeth (it is doubtful if the fore legs assist in the 
operation) it hauls away on the rope of silk, slowly pulling 
it up to the desired point, where it is held in place by a new 
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