i*2i HYMENOPTERA. 
Still more provoking; the fly deposits an 
egg in the flower hud, which, for a while, 
continues to flourish ; but when the 
caterpillar has eaten down to where the 
bud joins the stalk, it begins to fade; if 
the flower blows, it has a sickly hue ; the 
supply of nourishment is interrupted, 
and as the mischief increases it droops 
to one side, and dies. 
Lucy. Indeed, mamma; upon my own 
moss rose tree there are some flowers 
in the way you describe ; but the gar 
dener told me it was a blast. 
Mother, Yes ; a blast is the common 
cause to which every misfortune of this 
kind is ascribed ; but the blast is often 
wrongfully accused of injuries, that are 
commited by various tribes of insects. 
The larvae of this genus have in gene- 
ral a greater number of legs than those 
of moths and butterflies, and have thence 
been called false cater pilla7^s, a name, by 
which you will often find them men- 
tioned in books. 
JLuci/, Are they not real caterpillars ? 
