224 Mr. H. T. Stainton on the 



had concluded these were a new species, and named them Fulicella. 

 Ill 1839 he sent specimens of these Fulicella to Fischer von Rosler- 

 stamm, who wrote back that he did not consider them distinct 

 from Hiibner's Langiella, and Von Heyden, having satisfied him- 

 self that this opinion was correct, sunk the name Fulicella in his 

 collection. It was from the specimens sent by Von Heyden to 

 Fischer von Roslerstamm, under the name of Fulicella, that Her- 

 rich-Schaffer constituted this new species in his " Schmetterlinge 

 von Europa ;" thus, in a complicated way, perpetuating an error of 

 Von Heyden's, and one of my own, — for I fear many will yet 

 puzzle over his two species who will not meet with this explana- 

 tion. 



Last week, when referring to a Berlin periodical, published in 

 1794, for a description of the larva of Gracilaria stigmatella, 

 referred to by Schrank in his " Fauna Boica," I stumbled on a 

 description of this insect, with the habit of the larva and figure of 

 the mined leaf, larva and imago, under the name o? Alucita Epi- 

 lobiella ; this was from the pen of Romerj and it appears in the 

 11th volume of the " Schriften der Gesellschaft naturforschende 

 Freunde in Berlin," p. 162, pi. 3, fig. 1 — 5. Von Heyden had 

 called attention to this notice of Romer's in his short paper in the 

 " Correspondenz Blatt," and to its having been completely over- 

 looked by modern writers ; but I had not observed his remark 

 till after unearthing the old observation. Not unfrequently after 

 making a discovery, one finds it was already previously known. 

 Epilohiella would be the oldest name for the species, but is already 

 preoccupied in the genus, if the Epilohiella of the " Wiener Ver- 

 zeichniss" is to stand ; but the sole description there given, 

 " VVeidrichsroschen Raupe {Epilobii hirsuti), Weidrichsroschen 

 Schabe, Tinea Epilohiella," would apply to nearly the whole genus 

 Laverna, and I have never been able to find a sufficient " stand- 

 punkt" in this description to apply it firmly to any one species. 

 The oldest description for our present Epilohiella to which [ 

 refer is that of Schrank, in his " Fauna Boica," which is nine 

 years later than Romer's paper; and if this view be correct, the 

 name Epilohiella should now be applied to Langiella, and for the 

 Epilohiella of Schrank, the next oldest name of Fulvescens, 

 Haworth, would fall to be adopted. 



The synonymy of the two species would then stand thus: — 



Alucita Epilobiella — 



Romer, Berlin, naturf, Schriften, xi. p. 162, pi. 3 (6), fig. 

 1-5, 1794. 



