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on the Bionomics of Southern Nigerian Insects. 343 
spores mainly referable to phaeosporous Hyphomycetes, 
hardly two spores being alike, just such a collection as 
one could scrape off a bit of “clean,” living bark (that 
is not decayed); very little fungus mycelium—so far as 
I have yet seen—except fragments of brown-coloured 
hyphae; numerous Algal elements, not filaments but 
sporing or resting stages. I am on the whole inclined to 
believe that they are lichen-feeders, but I intend to go 
into the question more fully, for Hewitsonia larvae are 
now beginning to appear. I am also to compare frasses 
of different larvae of known food-plants. If they were 
bark-feeders there would be a larger proportion of un- 
digested cortical matter. Algal filaments would probably 
be more numerous instead of only sporing stages. I am 
inclined to think that the fungus constituent—at least 
hyaline mycelium—is digested. Resting brown mycelium 
might escape. At the moment I am ashamed to confess 
that I do not remember whether any group of lichens has 
a brown mycelium.* Brown spores are common enough, 
but I have an idea that the thallus is always hyaline. 
I will look up De Bary to-morrow. I remember at the 
time I found the #. honorius larvae [pp. 351-53] that some 
of their frass left in a jar, the walls of which were moist, 
formed centres for the growth, a vigorous growth, of 
filamentous Algae. Perhaps you may be able to induce 
some Algologist to try the experiment with the frass which 
I send you. If I lived in a forest district ’m sure I could 
quickly settle the point, but I feel rather confident of 
clearing up a good bit of the problem here. 
Yesterday I lberated two (immature) of the hairy 
Lycaenid larvae |Teratoneura| after starving them for 
24 hours. I put them in the ant-track on the bark of 
the tree. They appeared to start feeding at once, and 
* Miss A. Lorrain Smith has kindly written on this subject :— 
** Some few lichens have brown mycelium, but that is rather rare. 
What is almost universal is the brown under cortex and rhizinae 
of larger forms and the dark brown hypothallus of crustaceous 
species—the latter not so frequent. 
“ Bark lichens are a very favourite nidus for parasitic fungi. 
I often find very flourishing brown mycelium—stout hyphae—per- 
vading the lichen fruits. There are crowds of minute fungi parasitic 
on lichens. 
“The brown mycelium might thus be very easily explained as 
part of the larval food and may be either fungoid or lichenoid in 
origin.’’—E. B.P. 
