THE 



165 



run along a vein of the leaf than that of IV. yei. The larva feeds in dew- 

 berry and Rubus corylifoliits, is local, and is fond of leaves in cover of 

 woods, etc., in Sussex and Lincolnshire, also among rough grass on 

 sandhills at Mablethorpe. I have bred it freely from Rubus 

 chamnetnorus, from Scotland, but from no other plants. The moth is 

 much smaller than either IV. aurella or N. gei (the comparison is made 

 on 60 specimens, picked from a very much larger number of all three 

 species). IV. splendidissimella has conspicuously black head, contrast- 

 ing sharply with the colour of the eyecaps, and always suggests 

 strongly to me that it wears ' gig-lamps ' " (in litt., May 18th, 1898). 



The following list of the British species of the genus Nepticula, 

 arranged according to the natural orders on which the larvae feed, 

 will help to illustrate the large number of species that feed on plants 

 of the natural orders, Rosaceae, Cupuliferae and Salicineae. The species 

 (which are not arranged with any view to relationship, and often have 

 other food-plants besides those mentioned) are as follows : 



