Insects. 



6505 



Food-plant of Bryophila perla. — We have a colony of the larvae of Bryophila perla 

 that interests me vastly. As the little fellows have fixed their quarters on the house- 

 side I have not got far to go to observe their operations. During the day they carefully 

 secrete themselves in their sand nests; as they take care to make up the door-way on 

 entering their retreats, there is no chance of catching a glimpse of them then. The 

 early morning is their time of feeding ; then old and young are out, but soon after nine 

 they retire for the day. The plant that takes their fancy is the Lecidea confluens, a 

 crustaceous lichen that dots over old walls with its cracked and weather-beaten patches. 

 The shields or tubercles of this lichen are the chief attraction ; these they gnaw, re- 

 moving the black crusts and exposing the white under-surface to view. Their depreda- 

 tions are thus readily seen in the morning, as the white tops are very conspicuous 

 in the sunshine. The Lecideas, it is well known, abound in tartar, none probably 

 more than L. confluens. Soon after 9 o'clock the larvae withdraw to their nests for 

 the day. It is stated by Westwood that the larva of B. perla feeds on the lichens, but 

 as there are upwards of sixty Lecideas, not to speak of other genera, and many of these 

 affect rocks and old walls, I think you will be interested to learn the species that feeds 

 the caterpillar with us. The stone of which the house is built is granite. I would 

 just add a few words on the larva itself: it is, indeed, as you term it, " gaily-coloured;" 

 the dark livery is relieved by the orange-coloured stripe down the back; this stripe is 

 interrupted with dark spots, so as to give it the appearance of a chain- work of little 

 hearts. The tubercles have each a single hair, and are black, glistening like the head. 

 The sides of the little creature are beautifully mottled with slate-colour.— Peter Jnchbald ; 

 Storthes Hall, Huddersfield ; March 9. 1858. — ' Intelligencer' 



Appeal on behalf of Mr. Jethro Tinker. — Will you permit me to call the attention 

 of your readers to the following extract from a circular, issued by a Committee of the 

 friends of Mr. Jethro Tinker, of Stalybridge, in order that those naturalists who can 

 afford to assist one of Nature's gentlemen in his old age may have the opportunity of 

 giving each his mite ? for I feel certain that his case only requires to be known to 

 ensure the support of all thoroughly practised naturalists. Mr. Tinker is the father of 

 a numerous family of naturalists ; to his kindness pretty nearly all the Lancashire 

 naturalists are indebted for some part of their knowledge ; for fifty years he has worked 

 as none but a pure lover of nature can work, and for information on specimens none 

 ever applied to him in vain. Twenty years ago I thought his collection of Coleoptera 

 and Lepidoptera the result of superhuman labour ; they may have fallen behind the 

 present cabinets, yet they were part of the materials out of which our general informa- 

 tion was culled. As a botanist he stands second to none in his district, and has always 

 held a leading place amongst muscologists. He is now sick, consequently unable to 

 attend to his work, and being above seventy years of age I think him fairly entitled to 

 any support the liberal-minded naturalists of the present day can afford him. Will you 

 Mr. Editor kindly undertake to receive any gratuities which may be forwarded to you 

 for him ? "A number of friends, admirers of Mr. Jethro Tinker, the well-known 

 botanist and entomologist, believing him to be highly deserving of some substantial 

 token of sympathy in his declining years, assembled on the 19th of February last, 

 Mr. John Holden in the chair, when it was unanimously resolved : — 1st ' That Mr. 

 Jethro Tinker having for half a century assiduously devoted himself to the interests 



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