Wonderful Nests; From Homes Without Hands (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1887 edition. Excerpt: ...in order to show the method by which this feat is achieved. If a cocoon be opened longitudinally, the chrysalis will be seen to. fill-the whole of the interior. On examining it more closely, thecast skin is seen to envelop the whole abdomen of the pupa, being pushed down in folds so as to fit closely round the pointed abdomen, and to occupy as'-little space as possible. Vi/hen the moth escapes from the cocoon, it breaks away quite a large hole at the end next the head, and slips out of the chrysalis shell with great ease, by lifting up a large flap which covers the legs and the head, and which gives way at the line of demarcation which separates it from the wings. In consequence of this arrangement, the pupa shell and the cast caterpillar skin remain in exactly the same position, and by means of a little ingenuity the raised flap can be replaced and fastened so as to give no indications that the insect has ever broken it. These cocoons are far more conspicuous than those of the Drinker Moth, and are attached rather lightly to the stems of various plants. There is a smaller insect, popularly called the LITTLE EGGER MOTH, which spins a cocoon of a similar structure, except that the walls are of even harder and more uniform texture, scarcely larger than a wren's egg, and of a substance which looks almost as if it were made of the same material as the egg. When broken, it is found to be even more brittle than that of the larger insect. Owing, in all probability, to the exceeding closeness of the structure, which would exclude air from the inhabitant, it is perforated with one or two very tiny and very circular holes, which look just as if some one had been trying to kill the insect by piercing the cocoon with a fine needle or pin. Even...