162 TINEA SUBTILELLA, FUCHS. 



Tinea subtildla flies in favourable weather for a short time late in 

 the afternoon with an irregular sort of flight, and when it settles 

 on a stone or leaf generally runs away at a great pace and is a very 

 difficult insect to get safely into a pill box. If one does not succeed 

 at the first attempt, one is not likely to do so afterwards, as it will 

 probably have disappeared amongst the stones or in a bush, and 

 will not come out again until one has gone away. It is hard to 

 get in good condition, as its movements are so quick and continuous 

 it runs round and round in the box when caught, which takes a 

 good many of the scales off its wings, and it is not easy to set it 

 without damaging it. It is a pretty little moth when alive, when 

 perhaps the most conspicuous feature in it is its eyes, which 

 stand out like little black beads from the sides of its head, and 

 are well shewn off by the pale ochreous ground colour of its wings. 

 The top of its head, which is pale reddish ochreous, is also striking 

 from its extreme hairiness. 



There is no British species of the genus Tinea very closely allied 

 to subtildla^ the one it most resembles being biseUiella, which is, 

 however, much larger about twice the size and has not the 

 dark scales at the tip of the wing which are present in subtildla, 

 besides differences in the structure of its maxillary palpi. With 

 the exception of what Stainton (Nat. Hist. Tineina, Vol. xiii., p. 

 34) speaks of as "the semi-mythical subammanella, which is only 

 represented by the two anterior wings in my collection," and of 

 which the size is given as 3'", Tinea sultiletta, with an expanse of 

 3J'", is the smallest British species of the genus, though from its 

 light colour it is by no means the most inconspicuous. 



The following is a description of the imago (see also Ent. 

 Monthly Mag., Vol. xxvii., p. 14). 



Exp. al., 3J 3f". Labial and maxillary palpi both much 

 developed. Head very hairy, pale reddish-ochreous ; eyes black, 

 very conspicuous when the insect is at rest. Fore-wings and 

 fringes shining pale ochreous with a slight appearance of a darker 

 greyish spot at the tip of the wing, and with the costa at the base 

 also somewhat darker. Hind-wings and fringes very pale greyish- 



