1912.] 41 



whilst Heriiio- (in Jiff. 18.i.93) expresses the opinion that seeds 

 form its favourite, if not its only, pabulum. These also afford 

 sustenance to its ally at times, for Mr. Richardson ascertained, some 

 years atfo, that the insect recorded by Mr. Gr. C. Big-nell, in Ent. Mo. 

 Mag., XV, 110 (1878),* under the name " Tiiiea ferruginella," as 

 bred by himself from seeds of Artemisia absinthium, was really 

 "lomhardica'' (i.e. crocicajntflla). Mr. C. Gr. Barrett's letters, that 

 are before me, prove, moreover, that he reared the latter from seed- 

 feeding- larvae received from Mr. Greig, but unfortunately neither the 

 food-plant, nor the locality, is mentioned. This species, nevertheless, 

 does not always feed thus, for, in his house at Brianza, Count G. 

 Turati bred it in some numbers from debris of carpets, papers, &c., 

 and the fact that it thrives upon such debris accounts for the par- 

 tiality that the imago sometimes shows for buildings. As bearing on 

 this point, Mr. E. A. Atmore's experience is interesting: he informed 

 Mr. Eichardson (in lift, l.ii.93) that of his series of sixteen individuals 

 — all taken at King's Lynnf, and identified by Mr. Eichardson as 

 "lombardica" (i.e. co-ocicapiteUa), some were captured in his house, 

 and others in doclc-warehovises in the town. My own experience, 

 however, contrasts strongly with his, for, although I have taken many 

 examples of crocicajnteUa, not one of these has been met with either in or 

 near a building. A similar statement nhoxit ferrugi^iella would be equally 

 true, and Major Hering observed that he did not find it in houses, at 

 any rate in the larger towns. Writing from Stettin, on Jime 4th, 

 1894, he informed me that ferrngineUa, which in Germany never 

 showed any connecting links with "lomhnrdica,'' was then emerging in 

 plenty from some flower-pots on the balcony of a friend, and he was 

 setting a long series of it, for the species, in spite of its very general 

 distribution in that country, was, as a rule, by no means a common 

 one there. He added " Till now lombardica has not been foviud in 

 Germany," and I believe that his remark still holds good. 



In Britain, as in Germany, ferruginella is singularly constant in 

 facies, as regards the fore-wings, -whilst its ally is noticeably less so. 

 The females of crocicapitella have the fore-wangs less flecked with 

 ochreous, on the whole, than the males, and are therefore more 

 uniformly dark in appearance, thus approaching ferrmjineUa rather 

 more closely. But these species can be easily separated by attention 

 to the following points : 



* This iiotu is clearly tlie oiio rfferrod to l)y Sorhiigcii (/.'■.), and I )iavo little fluubt that 

 Meyrick's statement (/.<•.") that the larva uf hr,iiiii,\itla feeds on " seeds of Arh nn'.iin " was Ijuaud 

 upon it.— E. U. B. 



t Messrs. Atmore and BaiTett both found M. /iriai/iiulla rare i^t King's I.ynn.— E. K. U. 



D 



