182 THE GENERA OF BRITISH MOTHS. 
front edge. The hind wings are yellowish with the margins and fringe brown. This handsome little insect has 
only been taken once, in Sutherlandshire, in the summer of 1854. 
The genus Glyphipteryx. This genus, the typical one of the family, contains eight British species, all of 
which are remarkable for the splendid colours of their wings, the surface of which though so small is rich in the 
finest metallic hues, from bright green to the richest red bronze, often enriched with raised bosses of scales of 
bright golden appearance. The principal characteristics of the genus are the following. The head is smooth ; 
the antennz slender and rather short. The labial palpi are short, drooping, diverging outwards, and having a 
tuft of bristly hairs beneath. The form of the wings varies, in both pairs. The Caterpillars have the full 
complement of sixteen legs, and feed in the interior of leaves and seed-vessels. 
Glyphipteryx Fisheriella (the Fuesslian, No. 3). This pretty insect is one of the commonest of the genus. 
It appears in May and again in July, and has heen recently observed in great abundance at Birkenhead, Bristol, 
Neweastle-on-Tyne, and many other places. 
The other species are, G. fuscoviridella, which has the front wings of shining bronze-like green, with 
a white streak along the front edge ; G. Cladiella, which is of a darker mctallic green ; and G. Thrasoncila, which 
is of a dark metallic green with bluish silvery streaks ; while G. Haworthana, G. equitella, G. oculatella, and G. 
Schenicolella, all very closely resemble the species figured as an example. 
The genus Achmia. The insects assisned to this genus have the antenne rather thick, the head smooth, 
and the labial palpi short, drooping, and slender. The fore wings are rather bread, and distinguished by a 
projecting tuft of scales on the inner margin. ‘There is but one British species. 
Aichmia dentella (the Dentellated Achmia, No. 4). This species exhibits conspicuously the protruding 
tuft of scales on the hinder margin of the fore wings. It appears in May and June, and has been observed recently 
in some plenty at Cambridge, and noticed in several other localities. The Caterpillar remains as yet unknown. 
The genus Perittia. The insects assigned to this genus have the antenne very slender, the labial palpi 
longer than in the last genus and more slender. The fore wings are of long proportion, and the hind wings 
narrow and pointed. The Caterpillar, like most others of the family, feeds in the interior of leaves. There is 
but one British species. 
Perittia obseurepunctella (the Small Shining Brown, No. 5). The Caterpillar of this species is of a grayish 
tone verging on green, the head being dark brown. It feeds on the tissue of the leaves of the Honeysuckle, in 
July, the perfect insect appearing late in the autumn, after which it hybernates, to reappear early in the following 
spring. It has been recently observed at Lewisham in some abundance, and its appearance has been recorded in 
many other places. 
The genus Antispila. The insects assigned to this genus have the head smooth, and the labial palpi short 
and drooping, the antenne being much shorter than in the preceding genus. The fore wings are rather obtusely, 
and the hind wings acutely pointed. The main distinction, however, is found in the larva state, the Caterpillar 
being apodal, or entirely without feet. Like those of the rest of the family, however, it feeds in the interior of 
leaves. There are two British species. 
Antispila Pfeifferelia (the Pfeifferian). I have not been able to procure a specimen of this pretty species, 
but the following description will enable the collector to recognise it. The front wings are of a metallic golden 
brown getting redder at the back; near the base is a narrow angulated band of bright metallic gold colour, and 
beyond the middle are two angular spots of the same colour. The hind wings are pale brown, with fringes of a 
moderate depth. The Caterpillar is of a pale leaden green, with head and second segment brown. It feeds in 
the leaves of the Common Dogwood, in May, and the perfect insect appears in June and July. It has been 
recently noticed in plenty at Bristol, Scarborough, and other places. 
The other species, A. Treitschkiella, is very like the preceding, but invariably smaller, and the markings 
are less sharply defined, and the golden band less angulated. 
The genus Z'inagma. The Caterpillar of this genus, like that of the preceding, is apodal, being entirely 
without legs, and feeding in the interior of leaves. In the perfect insect the antenne are short and thick ; and 
the labial palpi short, slender, and pointing downwards. The front wings have the fringes deepened at the 
posterior angle. There are three British species. 
