160 tJ»iy. 



1 



from the base (wider on the dorstim than on the costa) beyond which the' 

 remainder of the wing is dark purplish fuscovis, the cilia tippad with steely 

 grey. Exp. al 4-5 mm. Hindwings (hidden in this unset specimen, but 

 described by Heinemann as dark brown-grey in the ^ , which agrees with Frey's 

 type). Abdomen bronzy fuscous. Legs: hind tibiae bronzy fuscous, tarsi silvery. 



The above description is taken from a specimen which had un- 

 fortunately died in the bottle during my absence abroad. It had 

 emerged from one of three rather pale brown cocoons made by bright 

 green larvae, which descended from a sycamore tree, under which I 

 was sitting, at Emery Down, near Lyndhurst, on August 27th, 1914. 

 I had watched these cocoons for some weeks, and had despaired of 

 breeding the species, and it was only lately that I re-examined the 

 bottle, which was carefully labelled. I have a note that these larvae 

 were bright green — Heinemann describes the larvae of speriosa as 

 greenish amber-yellow. I was convinced at the time that these larvae 

 were not those of Stiginella sericopeza Z. (the only species kno'wii to 

 feed on maple or sycamore in England), because there were no seeds on 

 the young tree above me, which was well isolated from all others. 

 Being able to reach some of the upper leaves from my window, I 

 searched diligently for mines, but found none, nor could I discover 

 any in fallen leaves from the same ti-ee, wdiich wei*e subsequently sent 

 to London at my request, although it is obvious that they must have 

 been there. The species is an interesting addition to the British 

 fauna, for, in the Entomologist's Weekly Intelligencer i. 27 (1858), 

 Professor Frey wrote as follows : " In the neighbourhood of Ziu-ich 

 the sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus) is a very common tree in all the 

 woods. I had detected, some years ago, in September, a yellowish 

 Nepticula larva mining the leaves in very long galleries, but I never 

 succeeded in rearing the perfect insect. Yesterday, at last, I had 

 the good fortune to rear, all at once, three specimens. It is a 

 new, very fine species, which I propose to call Nepticula speciosa, 

 nearly allied to N. aurella, but likewise somewhat similar to N. 

 alnetella. Doubtless N. speciosa is not confined to Switzerland : 

 perhaps your lynx-eyed and active entomologist, Mr. Edleston, will 

 be enabled, by this short notice, to find so brilliant a little creature in 

 England." This is the earliest description of the species. 



There are five specimens of speci<>sa in the Frey Collection (now 

 in the British Museum) with which I have carefully compared my 

 specimen, as also with Heinemann's full description of the species, 

 which should follow marglnicolella Stn. in our collections. 



