1887.] 141 



NOTES ON THE SPECIES OF HEINEMANN'S FAMILY CHAULIOBID^ 

 THAT OCCUR IN ENOLAND. 



BY WILLIAM "VVAEREN, F.E.S. 



In response to a request by Mr. Stainton, I have undertaken to 

 put together a few notes on these species, embodying the latest 

 discoveries, as yet unpublished, of their habits and mode of life. This 

 information is, for the most part, derived from the observations of 

 others, notably of Mr. W. H. B. Fletcher, of Worthing, whose well- 

 known pertinacity in investigating the earlier stages of our Micro- 

 Lepidoptera has been so often rewarded with success. 



Heinemann assigns to his family ChauHodidce five genera, viz., 

 Heydenia, Hofm., JEchtnia, St., CJiauIiodus, Tr., Ochromolopis, H., and 

 Schreckensteinia, H. Of these the last may, I think, be dismissed as 

 being entirely out of place in the family, while the 4th {Ochromolopis) 

 containing but one species (ictella), not yet occurring in England, 

 needs only to be noticed as forming a connecting link between 

 Ghauliodus and ^chmia. 



The characteristics of the family, as distinguished from other 

 families, may be shortly given thus : — 



Head smooth ; ocelli absent ; antennse without eye-caps ; palpi filiform, closely 

 scaled. Fore-wing with additional cell, the loAver median nervure forked at the base. 

 The four genera can be also practically separated inter se as follows : — 



A. Palpi longer than the head, ascending. 



a. Inner margin of fore-wing with at least two teeth of scales ..1. Chauliodus. 



b. Inner margin of fore-wing with only one tooth 2. Ochromolopis, 



B. Palpi short, drooping. 



a. Inner margin of fore-wing with only one tooth 3. ^chmia. 



b. Inner margin of fore-wing without tooth 4. Heydenia. 



The larvae of subd. A. feed mostly on the leaves and flowers, only 

 I a few species are seed feeders ; those of subd. B. exclusively on the 

 seeds of their food-plants. 



All the species of Ghauliodus whose life-history is known are 

 double-brooded. In most, if not in all, cases the $ iniagos of the 

 autumn brood hibernate, and lay their eggs in early spring. The larvae 

 are sluggish, short and stout in shape, with a glistening skin and 

 distinct spots. When first hatched, they mine the leaves and stalks 

 of their food-plants ; later on they feed externally on the cuticle of 

 the leaves, which they spin together by a few threads, covered, as Mr. 

 Stainton remarks (Nat. Hist. Tin., xii, 70), with a glutinous secretion, 

 which collects in minute globules. In habit they appear more or less 

 gregarious. The pupa is enclosed in an open network cocoon. The 



