TORTRICINA. 265 



Genus III. SERICORIS, TREIT. 



Palpi longer than the head, remote, ascending ; basal joint elon- 

 gate, drooping, pyriform, truncate; apical minute, elongate, egg- 

 shaped, two- thirds as long as the basal ; middle stout, thickened 

 beyond the centre, more than three times as long as the apical. 

 Maxilla3 longer than the palpi. Thorax slender, ovate, usually 

 simple, but sometimes with a small tuft behind. Anterior wings : 

 length equals twice the breadth; costaregularly arcuated ; apex acute ; 

 apical margin very slightly concave ; dorsal margin slightly rounded. 

 The costal vein reaches the margin at the middle ; subcostal nervures 

 usually equidistant. The discoidal cell lying towards the middle of 

 the wing, and not proceeding two- thirds its length ; widest at its 

 apex. It receives (in S. conchana) an internal nervure inserted be- 

 tween, and towards, the second subcostal nervure, and passing to the 

 apical vein between the first and second apical nervures. Posterior 

 wings ample ; apex obtuse ; apical margin concave ; dorsal margin 

 entire. Abdomen long, slender, rather stouter in the $ ; tufted in 

 both sexes. 



This is an extensive and a puzzling group of insects (even 

 when considered as regards the British species only, but par- 

 ticularly so when viewed relatively to the Continental ones), and, 

 as at present constituted, will doubtless have to be modified, when 

 we are better acquainted with the larvse. Several of the species 

 have been repeatedly bred, but no one has sufficiently observed 

 either the larvse or their habits, to speak with any confidence 

 about them. The colouring of some of these insects is par- 

 ticularly rich, but the brilliancy is very liable to fade in cabinet 

 specimens, which soon become dull. 



The British species amount to twelve in number, and are thus 

 tabulated : 



A. Anterior wings with the edges of all the fasciae 



and markings sharply defined Species . 1 



B. Anterior wings with the principal markings 

 slightly suffusing, and with a small white or silvery - 

 lustred spot on the posterior edge of the central 



fascia towards the costa Species 2-4 



C. Anterior wings with the markings very suffused 



in the <$ , sharp and distinct in the $ .... Species . 5 



D. Anterior wings : the markings slightly suffusing, 

 and the central fascia without the small white or 



silvery -lustred spot on its posterior edge . . . Species . 6-9 



E. Anterior wings with a broad pale ochreous or 



yellow space succeeding the basal patch . . . Species 10, 11 



F. Anterior wings with a broad, slightly -oblique, 



nearly isometric fascia in the middle .... Species . 12 



