. Handbook of nature-study for teachers and parents, based on the Cornell nature-study leaflets. Nature study. THE LEAF-ROLLERS Teacher's Story ^ we look closely at sumac leaves before they are aflame from autumn's torch, we find many of the leaflets rolled into little cornucopias fastened with silk. The silk is not in a web, like that of the spider, but the strands are twisted together, hundreds of threads combined in one strong cable, and these are fastened from roll to leaf, like tent ropes. If we look at the young bass- woods, we find perhaps many of their leaves cut across, and the flap m
. Handbook of nature-study for teachers and parents, based on the Cornell nature-study leaflets. Nature study. THE LEAF-ROLLERS Teacher's Story ^ we look closely at sumac leaves before they are aflame from autumn's torch, we find many of the leaflets rolled into little cornucopias fastened with silk. The silk is not in a web, like that of the spider, but the strands are twisted together, hundreds of threads combined in one strong cable, and these are fastened from roll to leaf, like tent ropes. If we look at the young bass- woods, we find perhaps many of their leaves cut across, and the flap made into a roll and likewise fastened with silken ropes. The witch-hazel, which is a veritable insect tenement, also shows these rolls. In fact, we may find them upon the leaves of almost any species of tree or shrub, and each of these rolls has its own special maker or indweller. Each species of insect, which rolls the leaves, is limited to the species of plant on which it is found; and one of these caterpillars would sooner starve than take a mouthful from a leaf of any other plant. Some people think that insects will eat anything that comes in their way; but of all created animals, insects are the most fastidious as to their food. Some species of leaf-rollers unite several leaflets together, while others use a single leaf. In the case of the sumac leaf- roller, it begins in a single leaf; but in its later stages, it fastens together two or three of the terminal leaflets in order to gain more pasturage. The little silken tent ropes which hold the folded leaves are well worth study with a lens. They are made of hundreds of threads of the finest silk, woven from a gland opening near the lower lip of the cater- pillar. The rope is always larger where it is attached to the leaf than at the center, because the caterpillar criss- crosses the threads in order to make the attachment to the leaf larger and firmer. Unroll a tent carefully, and you may see the fastenings used in an earl
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