2 Lord Walsingham's monograph of the genera 



by characters not jointly possessed by any other genera 

 of those families or subfamilies in which they have 

 hitherto been classed. 



The species examined are those in the British Museum 

 and in the Zeller collections, and especially a fine series 

 of specimens in my own cabinet, for which I am indebted 

 to Mr. G. T. Carter, Mr. F. J. Jackson, Mr. J. H. Leech, 

 and Mr. H. Druce. 



The question of classification has been touched upon 

 under the various descriptions of species by Zeller, by 

 Staudinger, by Walker, by Stainton, and by Meyrick ; 

 also at more length by Butler in a paper entitled " On 

 the natural affinities of the lepidopterous family 

 mqeriidoi " (Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond., 1878, pp. 121—5, 

 Plate v.). 



Zeller regarded Eretmocera (including (Edematopoda) 

 as forming a connecting-link between that section of the 

 unrestricted genus CEcophora, which included espereUum, 

 Hb., seleniellum, Z., and chenopodiellum, Hb. (now 

 associated with Butalis, Tr.), and the equally unrestricted 

 genus Elachista, as represented by the species ceratella, 

 Z., modestella, Dp., &c. Staudinger, in describing his 

 Staintonia medinella, states his opinion that it comes 

 nearest to Butalis. 



Walker, in the British Museum Catalogue, makes 

 some very significant remarks. Of TincBgeria he writes, 

 " this genus seems to connect the Tineites with the 

 Mgeriidce" ; of Arauzona he writes, "this genus seems 

 to connect the ALgeriidcs with the Gelechidcey He. 

 further jDlaces impactella in the genus Gelechia, and says 

 "this species appears to have some affinity to the 

 ^EgeriidiS." 



Stainton remarks of his Atkinsonia, " a singular and. 

 beautiful genus belonging to the family Elachistidce,"' 

 and mentions its habit, when at rest, of erecting its 

 hind legs above its back behind the head (as in Shrecken- 

 steinia and Hcliodines, Stn.), and vibrating its plumed 

 antennae. He also notes the larval habits (which are 

 similar to those of many species of Butalis) . Moreover, 

 in his ' Tineina of Southern Europe,' he places Staintonia 

 between Endrosis and Schrcckensteinia, where it stands 

 also in Staudinger and Wocke's Catalogue. 

 ■ Meyrick classifies Castorura with the Elachistidcs, and 

 Butler draws attention to the affinities with the ^geriidce 



