Insects. 



8533 



larvae are both carnivorous and herbivorous, and T should think it not at all 

 improbable that the ova of fishes may occasionally serve them for food, and 

 perhaps even the newly-hatched fry. In conclusion, I may remark that I think 

 the term "stone-fly" is generally applied to the Perlidae, as distinguishing them 

 from the "caddis-flies" or Phryganidae. — R. M'-Lachlan ; 1, Park Road Terrace, 

 Forest. Hill, April 6, 1863. 



Food of Larva of Phryganidce. — Since writing the above I have had an opportunity 

 of witnessing an interesting instance of the herbivorous propensities of these larvae. A 

 few days ago I was in .Richmond Park, and found a large number of caddis-worms 

 (some species of Limnephilus) congregated about the rushes on the edges of a pond. 

 On closer inspection it was evident that they were feeding on the bark of the rushes, 

 sometimes eight or nine cases being attached to a single rush that was bent 

 and lying on the surface. After having devoured the bark some of them cut 

 the pith into short lengths, which they attached to their cases. — Id. ; April 15, 

 186.3. 



Singular Caddis-Worms at Fat-si-jien. — Fat-si-jien is a small island in the 

 Pacific, one hundred and fifty miles from the east coast of Nijihon. It is a penal 

 settlement of the Japanese. On landing in a little bay among rocks and rollers, we 

 find the people mild, hospitable and well-behaved. Their place of banishment is by 

 no means inviting, and their lives must doubtless be hard, while their luxuries must 

 certainly be few. Notwithstanding the stony nature of their island they manage to 

 cultivate two kinds of rice, and, with great industry and toil, they also grow the sweet 

 potato and the taro. At the base of the island the huge waves of the Pacific come 

 rolling in, rounding all the rock-fragments, which continually fall from the cliffs above. 

 The greater part of the island is barren, or clothed with a useless scrub. The sand- 

 stone rocks here and there crop out, and are sometimes red and sometimes clothed 

 with a scanty verdure, while deep chines and fissures, wall-faced cliffs and great 

 angular ridges meet the eye at every turn. Hardly a bird but the rook is seen, and 

 the only animals observed among the herbage are a smooth glistening skunk and a 

 slim brown lizard, gliding and rustling, as is their wont, among the leaves and grass. 

 Waterfalls of various shapes and sizes everywhere abound, the humid rocks about 

 them covered with Marchantias, ferns, Sedums and Saxifrages. Under the rush of 

 these waterfalls, adhering like limpets to the surface of the rock, I find my singular 

 caddis-worms. Their singularity consists, not only in their peculiar habitat, but in the 

 adaptation of their tubes to meet the deviation from the usual habits of their race. In 

 running streams they are cylindrical, but here they are arched above and flat beneath, 

 another form of tube being necessary to enable them to resist the action of the falling 

 water. They are about half an inch long, and composed of small grains of sand 

 cemented together. Their occupant does not appear to differ in appearance from the 

 architect of the ordinary English form of tube with which, as a school-boy, I was 

 formerly familiar. — Arthur Adams. 



Larvae of Lepidoptera. — Once more I beg to solicit readers of the ' Zoologist ' to 

 send me living specimens of the larvae of Lepidoptera : the great harvest of night- 

 feeding larvae is during the month of May; and although it is uncertain when the 

 descriptions can appear, there is no reason they should not be written while the insects 

 are obtainable. Tin or brass tubing, closed at the ends, is the most convenient 

 vehicle for the transmission of living larvae. — Edward Newman. 



