36 Mr. H. T. Stainton's Monograph of the 



Sp. 10. Purpurella, Haworth. (PI. III. fig. 15.) 



Capillis fuscis ; alls anticis aureis,numerosis fasciis irregularibus, 

 venisque purpureis, ciliis ctnereo-luteis ; ciliis alarum posticarum 

 cinereis. 



Purpurella, Haw., Lep. Brit. 571, 38; Steph. 111. iv. 360, 13; 

 Donzelella, Dup., xi. 408, pi. 302, 12? 



Exp. alar. 5 lin. 



Head and face dark fuscous. Antennae fuscous, not half the 

 length of the anterior wings. Thorax and ahdomen dark fuscous. 

 Legs and tarsi fuscous. Anterior wings golden with a slight 

 greenish tinge, with numerous irregular purple fasciae, and the 

 veins purple; thus much concealing the ground colour, as in 

 Sparmcmnella the largest portion of the wing left of the ground 

 colour is at the anal angle ; cilia yellowish grey. Posterior wings 

 narrower than in unimaculella, pale grey, with a slightly purple 

 tint towards the apex ; cilia pale grey. 



Not scarce. Mr. Henry Doubleday writes me word, that in 

 Epping Forest it often swarms on birches at the end of March, 

 along with semipurpurella ; and it is owing to his calling my 

 attention to this species and its alies, that I discovered the great 

 blunder I had committed in my Catalogue with regard to them. 

 (I shall always feel much obliged to any entomologist who will 

 call my attention to any point in which he may think I have erred, 

 as it is only by such criticism of one another that truth can be 

 elicited and progress made.) 



Purpurella differs from semipurpurella in being smaller, with 

 much shorter antennae, in the hairs of the head being dark fuscous, 

 and in the anterior wings being streaked and veined with purple ; 

 it differs from unimaculella, which it resembles in size, also by 

 the streaking and veining of the anterior wings, by the anal spot 

 being less conspicuous, and by the posterior wings being narrower 

 and more pointed. The differences between purpurella and Spar- 

 mannella have been already mentioned under the latter species. 

 Haworth's Tinea rubroaurella (Lep. Brit. 572, 40) is apparently 

 an injured specimen of this species ; he says, " alae anticae rubro 

 sive purpureo-aureae ; lente puncto postico aureo, in quo punctu- 

 lum minutum fuscum. In medio marginis tenuioris punctum alium 

 aureum ; " which certainly rather appears as if he had had a spe- 

 cimen of Adela Jibulella before him, yet the insect in Mr. Stephens' 

 collection, labelled by Haworth rubro-aurella, is truly a Microp- 

 teryx, and apparently identical with purpurella. 



