Natural history of insects : comprising their architecture, transformations, senses, food, habits--collection, preservation and arrangement . Earth-Mason Caterpillars Nests xvith the perfect Moth, ifc. The grubs of several of the numerous species ofmay-fly {Ephemtra) excavate burrows for themselvesin soil earth, on the banks of rivers and canals, under VOL. IV 18 20G INSECT ARCHITECTURE, the level of the water, an operation well described byScopoli, Swammerdam, and Rtaumur. The excava-tions are always proportioned to the size of the in-habitant; and consequently, when it is young , th
Natural history of insects : comprising their architecture, transformations, senses, food, habits--collection, preservation and arrangement . Earth-Mason Caterpillars Nests xvith the perfect Moth, ifc. The grubs of several of the numerous species ofmay-fly {Ephemtra) excavate burrows for themselvesin soil earth, on the banks of rivers and canals, under VOL. IV 18 20G INSECT ARCHITECTURE, the level of the water, an operation well described byScopoli, Swammerdam, and Rtaumur. The excava-tions are always proportioned to the size of the in-habitant; and consequently, when it is young , the hole is proportionally small, though, withrespect to extent, it is always at least double thelength of its body. The hole, being under the levelof the river, is always tilled with ^vater, so that thegrub swims in its native element, and while it is se-cure from being preyed upon by fishes, it has its ownfood within easy reach. It feeds, in fact, if we mayjudge from its cgestUy upon the slime or moistenedclav with which its hole is ^ests of the Gi-uhs of Ephemera. A. The grub. B. Perforations in a river bank. C. One laidopen to show the parallel structure. In the bank of the stream at Lee in Kent, we hadoccasion to take up an old willow stump, which, pre-vious to its being driven into the bank, had been per-forated in numerous places by the caterpillar of the EARTH-MASON CATERPILLARS. 207 goat-moth (Ccssiis ligniperda). From having beendriven amongst the moist clay, these perforations be-came filied with it, and the grubs of the ephemereefound them very suitable for their habitation; for thev/ood supphed a more secure protection than if theirgalleries had been excavated in the clay, [n theseholes of the wood v/e found several empty, and somein which were full grov> n grubs.*
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookidnaturalhistoryof01bos, booksubjectinsects
