300 [December, 



bush. It SO happens that we have a plague of birds that think nothing 

 of clearing scores of currant and gooseberry trees of their fruit ; I 

 think it very likely that they begin this campaign by eating any early 

 ripening currants that contain capitella, and so nearly exterminate it. 

 This may be a remedy for capitella, but I think it is worse than the 

 disease. 



As to the generic position of Lampronia capitella. The life- 

 history of Eriocephala (leaf mining Micropteryx) presents us with a 

 larva that is legless, and mines in leaves during its whole (feeding) 

 existence. Incurvaria (taking muscalella as type) mines the leaves as 

 a young larva, and when half-grown forms a case and feeds up as a 

 case-bearer. Lampronia (rubiella as type) feeds within a fruit as a 

 young larva in autumn, in spring mines the shoots, it never makes a 

 case, and in habit, and, to a great extent in appearance and structure, 

 has made some advance towards Tortrices. 



Now, capitella accords herein precisely with 7nobiella, and in no 

 way with muscalella. In structure capitella is still nearer the Tortrices 

 than rubiella, as the full grown larva has the abdominal prolegs armed 

 with hooks imperfectly disposed in a circle. If the authorities allow, 

 it is very desirable when muscalella and capitella are separated, that 

 the name Incurvaria should adhere to muscalella ; since, whatever 

 reason Haworth may have had in framing the name, it is curious that 

 muscalella, in ovipositing, so bends the abdominal extremity that it 

 points not only downwards but forwards, so as to make the name 

 Incurvaria very appropriate, as I have not met with a similar confor- 

 mation in any other genus of the AdelidcB. I do not know that it 

 has been formally propounded, but I assume that the knife-tail Tinece 

 that pierce the tissues of plants, and lay their eggs within fruits, the 

 parenchyma of leaves, &c., must all be placed in one family, for which 

 AdelidcB becomes the most appropriate name. I may note that this 

 piercing oviposition was described about a dozen years ago by Prof. 

 C. V. Kiley, in the case of Pronuba yuccasella, which would thus 

 appear to be an Adelid. He also makes some remarks on the pupa, 

 which confirm this idea, and a copy of his figure of it shows it as 

 distinctly Adelid; but I have not had the opportunity of seeing 

 Riley's original paper. 



The definite and interesting differences in the anatomy corres- 

 ponding to these differences of habit may make the subject of a 

 further communication. 



Firbank, Hereford : 



October, 1892. 



