Mycteroplus — Me liana — Tapixostola. 157 



inside ; and in variety Wismariensis (Herr.-Schaff.) a broad black longitudinal streak runs through 

 the middle of the fore-wings to the hind margin. Expands about i^ inches. Very local in 

 Central Europe, inhabiting marshy places in June and July. The larva is slender, naked, 

 )'ellowish-grey, with pale longitudinal lines, and the head and a plate on the back of the neck 

 brown. It feeds on the leaves of the reed, hiding itself in the dry stems during the day, 

 but also feeds on other reed-frequenting insects, especially after hybernation. It may be 

 looked for in spring in the stems of leaves, especially after it has become a pupa, as such 

 stems may then be recognised by being covered with a web at the top. 



GENUS VII. — MYCTEROPLUS (HERR.-SCHAFF.). 



Fore-wings moderately broad, angular at the tips, and the hind margin nearly straight. 

 The antenna are simple, the palpi extend very little beyond the head, and the third joint 

 is small and conical. The tongue is rather long and the body moderately stout, the abdomen 

 extending a little beyond the hind-wings. The only species, M. Piiniccago (Boisd.), from 

 South Russia and North Turkey, is pale straw-colour, the fore-wings with two suffused fasciae 

 bordered with white, and with indistinct spots ; the hind-wings are white. 



GENUS VIII. — MELIANA (CURT.). 



Fore-wings nearly thrice as long as broad, with the tips acutely pointed and the hind 

 margins long and oblique, almost without markings. The antennas are simple, and the tongue 

 is horny. The only species, *J/. Flavimea (Curt.), is pale ochreous, with whitish veins finely 

 bordered with brown, a row of brown dots beyond the middle, and a grey longitudinal 

 stripe across the centre of the wings, sharply bounded in front. The hind-wings are whitish, 

 suffused with grey. Expands nearly li inches. Widely distributed in Central Europe, but 

 scarce and local, occurring in marshy places in May and June. The larva is rather long and 

 slender, naked, pale bone-colour, with indistinct pale longitudinal lines; head and thoracic 

 shield pale brown. It lives on reed, and changes to a pupa in the stems in autumn. 



GENUS IX. — TAPINOSTOLA (LED.). 



Small, but stout-bodied moths, the fore-wings varying in length, with the tips somewhat 

 rectangular, and sometimes rounded off; straw-colour or brownish-red, almost without 

 markings. The antennae are not dentated, but densely ciliated in the male ; the last joint of 

 the palpi is short, and the tongue is horny. The larvae are naked, and live in the stalks 

 of grasses. 



* I. T. Miisailosa (Hiibn.). — Fore-wings with the hind margin oblique and the tip rounded; 

 pale greenish-yellow, with dark veins, pale yellow longitudinal stripes running through the 

 middle to the tip and along the folds ; the two stigmata indicated by light spaces ; the 

 hind-wings white, dusted with grey in the female. Expands about i\ inches. A scarce 

 species everywhere, though widely distributed in Central and Southern Europe. It is generally 

 found in corn-fields in August. 



*2. T. Fluxa (Hiibn.). — Fore-wings short, straw-coloured (bright reddish-yellow in variety 

 Ftdva, Hiibn.), dusted with darker on the margins and nervures, especially on the median 

 nervure ; sometimes with a row of small black dots beyond the middle ; hind-wings grey, and 



