THE CRAMBUS CONTAMINELLUS DISCUSSION. 55 



name cannot stand, as it was given much earlier to the species 

 we know by that name. 



" The whole difficulty in the synonymy centres in Hiibner's 

 C. contaminellus, fig. 59. On the whole I still think it represents 

 your canticlliis. It is about right in size. The V-mark on the 

 inner transverse line is distinctly, perhaps too much so, repre- 

 sented. The outer line would do for that of either species. 

 The absence of the basal streak, so far as it goes, agrees with 

 your species. On the other hand — I omitted to point out this 

 before— the figure is dotted at its hind margin, as is C. con- 

 taminellus, while only a few very minute black scales can be seen 

 near the anal angle of the fore wings of the other. The descrip- 

 tions to which I have access do not help us much. Stainton 

 (Man. ii. 183) says : — ' Fore wings ochreous-brown,' which agrees 

 best with the colour of C. cantiellus. The ground colour of the 

 other I should say was rather wainscot-brown. I am told that 

 the description was written from Blackheath specimens of C. 

 cantiellus. He gives Preston a locality for C. contaminellus, but 

 it does not follow that he had any from there before him. 



" Zeller's Latin description, ' Chilonidarum et Crambidarum 

 gen. et spec. 43,' refers to C. contaminellus. lie says, * Venae 

 niedianse dimidio basali pallido inferius fusco-marginato,' and 

 ' margine postico medio nigro-punctato.' As a habitat, however, 

 he gives ' pascuis aridis,' so probably he possessed both species,* 

 but only described one of them, not distinguishing them. 



" If I may express an opinion on the resultant of this evidence, 

 I should say that I think that C. cantiellus is really Hiibner's 

 fig. 59, = C. contaminellus, Hb., possibly of Stainton f; and that 

 the species, represented by Hiibner's fig. 442 as inquinatella, and 

 by Herrich-Schaffer's 88 and 89, and described by Zeller, is our 

 salt-marsh C. contaminellus, which, if I am right about fig. 59 Hb., 

 requires a new name. This you, as the first to separate the spe- 

 cies, have alone the right to bestow. 



"After all you are in a far better position to come to a right 

 decision than I am, as, in addition to your knowledge of the 

 species, you have the opportunity of consulting the chief authori- 

 ties of the day on Lepidoptera, a privilege which one who lives 



* Vide 'Entomologist,' xix., p. 73. " Crambus contaminellus in the Zeller Col- 

 lection."— J. W. T. 



•f Certainly so ; vide Entoin. xix. 76. — J. W. T, 



