Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 12.djvu/61

* LEAF-INSECT. 49 LEAGUE OF THE PRINCES. tives of the countries where they abound firmly Ibelieve that they were once real leaves, which by some metamorphosis of habit have taken to walk- ing. There is also a marvelous similarity be- tween their eggs and plant-seeds, even in minute structure. These insects spend their lives among foliage, move slowly, and would be much exposed to every enemy, did not their leaf-like appear- ance preserve them from obsen-ation. Spectro- scopic analysis of the coloring matter of these insects' wings shows a slight distinction from that of chlorophyll, but that it does not differ from that of living leaves. Confined leaf-insects will, in the absence of leaf food, eat one another's -viiigs. Sec J[l,lU'KY. LEAF-MANNA. See Lerp-I>-.sect. LEAF-MINER. A member of a group of very small moths, known as the Tineida?, of serial or superfamily rank, containing a nvnnber of families and more than 4000 described species. The popular name "leaf-miner' refers to the fact that the larvre of very many species mine out the chlorophyll from between the upper and lower surfaces of the leaves of plants. The leaf-miners jiroper belong especially to the tincine families (iracillariida^. Lavernid;e, Elachistida', Lilhocol- Ictidic, Lyonetiidic, and Xepticulida', but some of the Tincida- and Gelechiida" are also leaf-min- ers. Otiicrs of the tineine series are leaf-rollers, leaf-webbers, seed-feeders, twig-borers, gall-mak- ers, and root-feeders, and others still feed upon animal matter such as skins, fur. woolen goods (see Clothes- JIoTn ) . and also upon dried fruits, stored grain, and similar substances. Some of them are leaf-miners only in early life, and later construct cases which they bear around with them wliile feeding externally on the foliage of 7dants. This habit is characteristic of the fam- ily Cdlcophoridte. Although very small, the tineines are frequent- ly very beautiful and are ornamented with bril- liant metallic scales. The wings are usually very narrow, sometimes lance-shaped, and bear long marginal fringes. Two species of Tinea have been recorded as viviparous. Examples of tine- ines are very difficult to collect and to preserve, and this accounts for the fact that, although 4000 species have been described, entomologists are really only just beginning the study of the group, which surely comprises very many thou- sands of species. Ortain other insects aside from these little moths are leaf-miners in the larval stage, as cer- tain leaf-beetles of the tribe Hispini: certain flies of the families Oscinidoe and Anthomyiidfc ; and certain saw-ilies of the family Tenthredinidie. Consult: Sharp, Cambridge Xattiral Tlisfori/, vol. vi. (London. 1899) ; Comstock, Manual for Ihc Study of Insects (Ithaca, 189.5). See But- terflies AND Moths ; Saw-Fly. LEAF-MONKEY. See LA^-GrR. LEAF-ROLLER. A small nocturnal or cre- puscular mcith of the family Tortricidie, most of which in the larval state roll themselves within the leaves of plants, fastening them with silken threads. They are generally less than an inch in lueadth across the expanded wings, and have naked antennae. The fore wings are usually marked with spots and bands, but the hind wings are without ornament. The larva either rolls a leaf into a nest in which it lives singly. or in some species many of them may bind all the leaves of a branch into one common nest. The yellow active larva; of one species ( C'accccia ccrasivorana) makes such a nest on the wild or choke cherry. The larva; change to pupie within the nest. Imt just before the moth emerges the ])upa nuikes its way to the outer surface of the nest, where it hangs attached by caudal hooks. The rolling of the leaves with the solitarj' spe- cies is due in part to the individual work of the larva, in part to the contraction of the silk in drving, and in part lo the changes in the growth of the vegetable tissue. Some tortrieid larvse are not leaf-rollers, but inhabit fruit, like the codling-moth (q.v.), the well-known enemy of apples and pears; Carpocapsa splcidana, which lives in acorns and walnuts; and Carpocapsa sallitans, which inhabits the seeds known as 'jumping beans' (q.v.). Certain beetles (wee- vils) have a similar habit of rolling leaves. LEAF-SPOT. A plant disease. See Dis- eases OF 1'LA>'TS. LEAGUE (from the Lat. leuca). A measure of length of great antiquity. It was used by the Romans, who derived it from the Gauls, and esti- mated it as equivalent to 1500 Roman paces, or 1..370 modern English miles. The league was introduced into England bv the Normans, prob- ably before the battle of Hastings (lOOG), and had been by this time lengthened to two English miles of that time, or 2.9 modern English miles. At the present day the league is a nautical measure, and signifies the twentieth part of a degree — i.e., three geographical miles, or .3.456 statute miles. The French and other nations use the same nautical league, but the former nation had (until the introduction of the metric sys- tem) two land-measures of the same name, the legal posting-league, 2.42 English miles, and the league of 25 to the degi-ee, 2.76 statute English miles. LEAGUE (OF., Fr. ligue, ML. liga, lega, bond, from Lat. lif/are, to bind). In French history, a name specifically applied to the Holy League (Sainte Ligue) organized in 1576 by Henry, Duke of Guise (q.v. j, in opposition to the grant- ing of the free exercise of their religion and political rights to the Huguenots. While its ostensible object was the maintenance of the Roman Catholic religion in its predominance, the real aim of the Guises was rather to exclude the Protestant princes of the blood from the suc- cession to the throne. For an accoimt of the civil war that ensued, see France; He.vrv III.; Hexrt IV. ; Huguenots. Consult also Mignet, Uistoire dc la Ligue (5 vols., Paris, 1829). See Holy League. LEAGUE OF THE PRINCES (Ger. FUrst- enhund). A league originated by Frederick the Great, in 1785. to oppose Joseph IT. in his pur- pose of altering the constitution of the German Empire, and extending the Austrian jiower in South Germany by the acquisition of Bavaria in exchange for Belgium. The league was formed between Prussia, Saxony, and Hanover on July 2;i, 17S5, and was afterwards joined by the dukes of Brunswick. Mecklenburg, Saxe-Weimar, and Saxe-Gotha, the margraves of. spach and Baden, the Elector of Mainz, and other princes. Having effected the abandonment of Joseph's plans, the league was dissolved at Frederick's death, and a later attempt by Charles Augustus