THE ENTOMOLOGIST’S WEEKLY INTELLIGENCER. 
39 
the attached lower aperture.” * * * * 
“ In all the cases of Psyche Helix , in the 
pupa state, hitherto examined by me, of 
which I have had the opportunity of ob- 
serving more than 150 within seven years, 
I never found any but a female pupa.” 
Here we must for the present pause, but 
we hope to revert to this book again 
before long. 
NATURAL HISTORY OF THE TINEINA. 
It was at the beginning of May, last 
year, that Mr. Hemmings sent up the 
full-fed larva of Bucculatrix maritima : 
indeed, the larva was so well fed, that it 
formed its cocoon on the road, and the 
larva of this species has neither been 
figured nor described. 
One had naturally looked forward to 
the return of this season of the year, ex- 
pecting wheu the “ merry month of 
May” came round again to have received 
this little caterpillar from Mr. Hem- 
mings. But alas! for human expecta- 
tions, as most of our readers well know 
Mr. Hemmings was taken suddenly ill 
last January, and in a few days he was 
no more. He has been called away for 
higher purposes than to supply that link 
in the chain of scientific discovery which, 
it had been imagined, he would himself 
have completed. 
The larva of this Bucculatrix had 
been found on the Aster Tripolium, a 
common plant delighting in “muddy 
salt marshes.” It is very doubtful 
whether any of the Brighton readers of 
this notice are sufficiently learned about 
Micro-Lepidoptera to be able to find so 
small a larva as that of a Bucculatrix , 
but perhaps some other coast entomolo- 
gist may meet with the little larva else- 
where. Should this be the case, I 
should be much obliged by his sending 
me a few. The insect has been taken 
near Gravesend, St. Osyth and St. Vin- 
cent’s Rocks, near Bristol. Probably it 
is not confined to the south of England, 
and I know that the Aster Tripolium 
grows northward, as I first made ac- 
quaintance with it above Kilmun, at the 
head of the Holy Loch. 
It is only a proper tribute to the me- 
mory of Mr. Hemmings to perfect the 
discovery which he has commenced. 
“ Ars lonya, vita brevis .” 
Another Brighton insect, which Mr. 
Hemmings used to take, is Coleophora 
binotapennella. The larva of this has 
not been discovered, though Mr. Hem- 
mings had repeatedly looked for it: so 
many of the larvce of that genus are on 
the move in May, that one would natu- 
rally expect that if a Coleophora larva 
was to be found at all, that was the 
month to find it. Binotapennella may 
occur in other maritime localities, but up 
to the present time I have never heard of 
its being taken any wherein this country 
but at Brighton, where it was found by 
Mr. Hemmings and Mr. Douglas 
“ among Salicorma and Chenopodium 
maritimum.” 
Coleopterists are attracted to the coast 
for several reasons at this early period of 
the year, and I certainly am holding out 
some inducement to Lepidopterists to do 
the same ; but if any one visits the Isle 
of Wight now, I hope he will not forget 
to look about him for that very pretty 
little Gelechia littorella, taken there 
some years ago by Mr. Stevens, and 
which, I believe, has not subsequently 
been taken by any one. If its haunts 
were well watched when the insect is on 
the wing, a clue might be afforded to its 
food-plant, and hence to the habits of 
the larva. 
This is no time to be idle, and I trust 
every one is “ up and doing.” — H. T. 
Stainton ; April, 1857. 
