150 
LITTLE FOLKS 
Don't think that the bees and wasps make all the cunning 
nurseries. There is a little Beetle mother, who makes a pretty green 
tent for her baby. She makes it of a leaf, which she leaves hang- 
ing to the tree, so that every breeze will rock the cradle. And 
that baby eats its own tent up. 
How do you suppose a little Beetle would go to work to roll 
up a leaf ever so much larger than itself? It is a wonderful opera- 
tion, and I'll tell you how it is. First, she gnaws through the thick 
veins of the leaf in a good many places, so that it will be easy to 
roll. Then she fastens a row of threads, which she spins from her 
own body, from one side to the other. 
These threads, which are really ropes to her, she tightens, one 
by one, by pulling them with her feet. As she draws one a little 
nearer, she spins a shorter rope to hold it there. So she goes on 
shortening them more and more, till she draws it completely over, 
where she wants it. You can see two of these leafy tents in the 
picture. 
Men, with all their wisdom, could find no better way to do that 
job, than the humble little Beetle takes. 
If you ever notice leaves, and I hope you do, for they're 
exquisitely beautiful, you have perhaps occasionally seen one with 
