Tor the mined jjlacc becoming discoloured can be distinguished 

 IVom a considerable distance; and not only so, but tlic mined 

 ])lact> remains a sign-post that sucli a larva had been feeding there 

 as long as the leaf remains on the plant ; thus, whereas in the 

 lihojhdoccra and larger groups of the Hefcrocera, it would be im- 

 possible, from the sight of a half-eaten leaf, to name the species 

 or even the genus to which the larva that had eaten it belongiul, 

 in the smaller families of the Ttueiiia not the slightest dilVieulty 

 occurs. 



Some of the perfect insects tly during the hot sunshine, but the 

 greater portion fly in the early morning or in the evening twilight. 

 That many species tly during the night I have palpable demonstra- 

 tion, from the numbers that have occasionally been attracted by 

 my light. 



The summer months, j\lay to August, are those in which <he 

 Tineiiui most abound ; in September aiu] October they are far 

 more plentiful thau is usually imagined, only that after the middle 

 of August they keep themselves so well concealed, and so rarely 

 stir a!)road, that they are scarcely ever seen, but by collecting the 

 larvic previously the perfect insects may be freely bred in those 

 months. 



In the winter months but very few species emerge from the jiupa 

 state, though many of those hatched in the autumu hybernate, 

 and are seen commonly in the spring (as, for instance, JJeprcssana 

 applanci). 



The great bulk of the species pass the winter in the larva state, 

 generally without feeding ; some, whose tastes are adapted for the 

 consumption of decaying wood, of which a supply is at all seasons 

 available, continue to feed throughout the winter, and some, which 

 feed on plants whose stems or leaves remain through the winter, 

 also abstain from fasting. 



Little is as yet known of the geographical distribution of this 

 group, but few species having been collected out of Europe ; with 

 regard to the European species there is this peculiarity, that the 

 species seem far more generally distributed than we find to be the 

 case in the largiir groups of Lepidoptera, and if it be true that 

 I'jUgland was separated from Eurojie before the liJiopaloeera were 

 distributed over that continent (hence accounting for the extreme 

 paucity of species with us), the Tlnelna nmst have preceded the 

 Rhopalocera, since of the continental species by far the greater 

 portion are indigenous to these islands. 



The families of the Tlnelna which are represented in this country 

 may be arranged in the following table : — 



VOT.. III. c 



