OBSERVATIONS ON TINEINA. 3 



I described the species from a single specimen in the collec- 

 tion of the late Mr. Caiter ; it had a rather uncanny look 

 about it, and at last I had come to the conclusion it was some 

 stray exotic, and in the Manual I ignored its existence. 

 When Mr. Cailer's collection was dispersed, this insect was 

 purchased by Mr. Stevens (being perfectly unique it might 

 have been very valuable), and Mr. Stevens brought the insect to 

 me one evening to inquire what I now thought about it — with 

 its pointed posterior wings and naiTow somewhat ensiform 

 body. I had not looked at it long before I recognised in 

 these posterior parts of the insect those of a Ceroatoma, 

 probably lucdla, and Itence the mystery admitted of ready 

 explanation. 



Who has not sometimes mended broken insects? — Insects 

 broken when several are in a box together. (I did' so myself 

 the other day, so I am not censuring the practice.) How 

 easy is it then, when two insects have lost the posterior 

 wings and abdomen, to mis|)lace them ! and hence it had 

 happened that the head and anterior wings of a Nemophora 

 Sch7varzieUa were invested with the hind parts of Cerostoma 

 lucella^ and in that guise had furnished a ready topic of 

 scientific discussion. 



Swammerdamia ccesiella. Hb. In working; at the wnus 

 Swammerdamm in the eleventh volume of the ^^ Natural 

 History of the Tineina" (now nearly ready), I have become 

 sensible of considerable confusion with respect to this com- 

 mon species, and probably some others of the genus. 



The extent of this confusion is so great, that when I first 

 sent the MS. of my histories of Griseocapitella and Ccesiella 

 to Professor Zeller, he said he felt so bewildered that he 

 was disposed to write to me a short treatise on the subject ; 

 but when he considered that probably after I had read his 

 treatise, I should still remain convinced of the correctness 



b2 



