. Homes without hands : being a description of the habitations of animals, classed according to their principle of construction . Animals. SMALL ERMINE MOTH. 465. Small Ermine Moth. pillars issue in vast numbers, each individual spinning a strong silken thread as it proceeds, which acts as a guide to the nest, just as the fabled clew led through the intricacies of Eosamond's bower. When once these caterpillars have taken possession of a tree, they are sure to strip it of its leaves as completely as if the foliage had been plucked by hand. It is a very curious sight to watch the systematic mann
. Homes without hands : being a description of the habitations of animals, classed according to their principle of construction . Animals. SMALL ERMINE MOTH. 465. Small Ermine Moth. pillars issue in vast numbers, each individual spinning a strong silken thread as it proceeds, which acts as a guide to the nest, just as the fabled clew led through the intricacies of Eosamond's bower. When once these caterpillars have taken possession of a tree, they are sure to strip it of its leaves as completely as if the foliage had been plucked by hand. It is a very curious sight to watch the systematic manner in which these troublesome insects set about their work, how they send out pioneers which lead the way to new branches, either by crawling up to them or by low- ering themselves to them, by means of their silken life-lines, and how soon they are followed by their ever-hungry companions. Perhaps the reader may wonder why the little birds do not eat these caterpillars. When they have nearly stripped the branch they are very-conspicuous, especially as they make their way from bough to bough along their silken bridges. Indeed, a pro- prietor of a garden that was much damaged by this moth did once mention the immunity of the caterpillars as a proof that any tenderness to small birds was misplaced, saying that if the spar- rows were half as insectivorous as I mentioned, they would long ago have eaten all the caterpillars. Now, at the first glance, there seemed to be some reason in this remark;, but a short look at one of the damaged trees explained the reason why the sparrows did not eat the caterpillars. The Gq. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Wood, J. G. (John George), 1827-1889; Keyl, Friedrich Wilhelm, 1823-1871; Smith, E. A. (Edward Alfred); Pearson, G. (George). New York : Harper & Bro
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Keywords: ., bookauthorwo, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1860, booksubjectanimals
