LITHOCOLLETIS. 265 



teriores elongatre, postice acurainatfe ; posteriores lineari-lanccolatae. 

 Anteriorcs : vena subcostalis loiige iiitcrnipta, coUula discoidalis 

 venas duas in costam, unain in apiccni, duas in margincm jiosticnm 

 emittit, subdorsalis sim])lex ; posteriores : vena niediaua biiida in 

 xitrumque marginem exit, subdorsalis sinijilcx. 



Head rough, the face sniootli. Antenna^ hardly shorter than the 

 anterior wings, the basal joint moderately thickened, not expanded into 

 an eye-cap. Tongue of moderate length, naked. Labial palpi filiform, 

 drooping. Wing with long cilia, the anterior elongate, posteriorly 

 acumi\iate (yet appearing from the cilia of an elliptic form) ; the poste- 

 rior linear-lanceolate. In the anterior wings the subcostal vein has a 

 long interruption; the discoidal cell sends two veins to the costa, one 

 to the apex, and two to the hinder margin ; the subdorsal vein is sim- 

 ple. In the posterior wings the median vein is bilid, terminating on 

 each margin ; the sidjdorsal vein is simple. 



This is in all probability tlie most elegant genus of the Tineiva ; 

 tlie graceful form of the perfect insects, the sharpness of the de- 

 signs on the anterior wings, and the rich, frecpieutly nictallic 

 lustre of the scales, impart to them a brilliancy which attracts the 

 attention of the most superficial. Unfortunately the small size of 

 these little gems, and the extreme similarity of many of them, 

 have caused considerable ambiguity with regard to the descrip- 

 tions of the earlier authors, so that our accurate knowledge of few 

 of the species dates further back than IS 16, when the appearance 

 of the first volume of the ' Liima^a Entoinologica,' with Zeller's 

 monograph of this geiuis, caused a complete revolution in (his 

 department of Entomological science. Elaborate as was that 

 monograph, and immensely in advance of all that had previously 

 been written on the subject, the impetus it gave to tlie study of 

 this group has been so great, that it has already become anti(|uated 

 and out of date. Von Nicclli, whose remarks on the habits of 

 the Pomeranian species of this genus show that he is fully com- 

 petent for such a task, has undertaken to write a monograph of 

 the genus as it stands at the present time, and I believe his mo- 

 nograph is now ready for publication. 



Tlie perfect insects rest with their head slightly elevated (a 

 single species [Schrebere/fa] has a directly contrary habit, inclin- 

 ing its head to the surface on which it rests at an angle of fully 

 SO); the antennre are laid back generally under the wings; the 

 llight is gentle, or with occasional jerks. The larv?c have only 

 fourteen feet, and mine in leaves, having no power to cpiit their 

 mine, but changing therein to a pu])a, and the ein])ty i)U[)a-skin 

 may be found protruding through tlie skin of the leaf after the 

 perfect insect has escaped. Some of the larva' mine beiu'ath the 



2 M 



