332 
Mrs. T. Vernon Wollaston on 
margin. The texture, too, of the wings appears in the present 
species to be thicker and more robust, or of a less delicate and 
shiny substance, than in P. glaucinalis. 
Genus 21. Hymenia, Hiibn. 
Hymenia recurvalis , Fab. 
There is probably no Lepidopterous insect in St. Helena 
(excepting, perhaps, the common Scoparia niyritalis) which is 
so abundant as the present one. Nevertheless it seems to be 
confined to the low and intermediate districts ; or, at any rate, 
I did not observe it above the altitude of Plantation. At 
Plantation, however, and at Cleugh’s Plain it swarms; and it 
was likewise in the utmost profusion about Jamestown, parti¬ 
cularly in the Botanic Gardens and towards Maldivia. It flies 
by day, and is especially fond of the Solanum nigrum , Linn., 
or nightshade, over the low shrubby plants of which it may be 
seen to hover in multitudes. Unfortunately, however, 1 did 
not meet with it in either its larva or chrysalis state. 
H. recurvalis occurs also at Ascension ; and it is a species of 
a wide geographical range, being recorded from Western 
Africa, India, China, New Zealand, and South America. 
Genus 22. Piiakellura, L. Guild. 
Phakellura inclica , Saund. 
This exceedingly pretty moth (so well distinguished by its 
transparent silken-white wings) would appear, as far as my 
own experience is concerned, to be decidedly scarce; for I met 
with but a single example of it during our sojourn in the 
island, and that one at Plantation. I was assured, however, 
that it was not uncommon at the Briars; so that, perhaps, it 
prefers a lower altitude than where we were principally 
located. 
Phakellura indica was described by W. W. Saunders, Esq., 
in the 1 Transactions of the Entomological Society ’ (new series), 
vol. i. p. 163, in a paper enumerating some insects which are 
injurious to the cotton-plant. He says that it is very nearly 
allied to Pyralis hyalinata , Linn., Poey, Cent. Lep. Cuba, 
pi. 19 (which belongs to the genus Eudioptes , Hiibn.) ; but it 
differs from it in the somewhat smaller size, broader band 
round the wings, also in the nature of the chrysalis-case; and 
up to that date (1850-51) he says that P. indica had been 
found only in the East Indies, while the species described by 
Poey seemed to be as exclusively limited to the New World, 
and is found in Cuba, Jamaica, Brazil, and Honduras. A 
