KEMARKS ON THE SPECIES OF THE GENUS NEPTICULA. 41 



A further character, which rnust be considered when we 

 divide the species into groups, is furnished by the length of 

 the antennae. As a rule the antenna? are longer in the male 

 than in the female, and therefore in this respect we must 

 compare males with males and females with females. In a 

 great number of species the antennae of the males reach 

 above two-thirds or even three-fourths of the length of the 

 anterior wings, in which case the antennce of the female have 

 rather more than half the length of the wings; in other 

 species the antennte of the males hardly reach beyond the 

 middle of the costa, and the antennae of the females are con- 

 siderablv less than half as lon^ as the wings. Some few 

 species stand midway between these sections. 



For the discrimination of the species, the cervical tuft* is 

 often of importance ; sometimes this is white and then forms 

 with the eye-caps, when the insect is sitting with its antennae 

 set back, a distinct white collar ; in the red and yellow-headed 

 species the cervical tuft is often of the sam.e colour with the 

 frontal tuft, but paler, and frequently it is quite concolorous 

 with the thorax. 



In the legs the middle tibiae are generally strikingly paler 

 than the posterior tibiae. Often they are quite white, whereas 

 in other species they are nearly as dark as the postei-ior tibias. 

 Thus, for instance Plagicolella is easily separated from its 

 nearest allies by the dark middle tibiae. 



Moreover the tibiae as well as the antennae seem to be 

 paler or darker according as we turn them to the light, and 

 hence the colouring of these parts in general rarely affords 

 a certain character. In all species the palpi are whitish. 



In the following list I have arranged the species known 



to me in groups, in which I have made use of the cilial 



markings, the length of the antennae, the markings of the 



anterior wings, the peculiarity of the latter in respect to the 



[* A tuft on the middle of the prothorax. — Ed. E. A.] 



