82 [April, 



Larva — in shoots of Suceda fruticosa, V — VI ; once only (if a solitary larva 

 may be excepted) on S. maritima, YIII e {teste, N. M. Rclm.). Mr. Richardson 

 once found the larvse rather plentiful on S. maritima, near Weymouth, on August 

 31st, perhaps half a mile or so from any S. fruticosa, but probably its natural food- 

 plant had disappeared, or some stray specimens had been driven to adopt the new 

 one. Mr. Richardson observes that S. maritima, being an annual, cannot be 

 available for food in May, so that a July brood from it is impossible ; on the other 

 hand, I have no evidence of any other than a July brood from S. fruticosa. 



Pupa — in thin, but exceptionally tough, cocoon of silk, often coated with mud, 

 on surface of soil, V e — VII ; once about IX or IX — IV {teste N. M. Rchn.). 



Imago— Yl e— VII ; once about IX— X or IV {teste N. M. Rchn.). 



Brood — one ; see above remarks. The moths probably hibernate, or deposit 

 their eggs, in the autumn, but evidence is wanting. The history of the June — July 

 brood alone is well known. Mr. Richardson has recorded a single instance in which 

 he met with larvse on S. maritima in August, in Dorset, and found the bred moths 

 dead and stiff in the following May. 



Hah. : England — Dorset, Essex, Norfolk, and Lancashire {teste 

 J. B. Hodgkinson) ; only found, with the exception of the single 

 instance mentioned above, in the actual spots where its natural and 

 very local food-plant, S. fruticosa, grows freely. 



5. LiTA PLANTAGINELLA, Stn. 



QelecUa plantaginella, Stn., Ent. Mo. Mag., XIX, p. 253 (1883). 



= Qelechia instaiilella, Dgl., Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond., V, p. 201 {partim) 

 (1849) ; Stn., I. B. Lep. Tin., p. 126 {partim) (1854) ; Ent. Ann., 1856, p. 52 ; 

 Man., II, p. 340 {partim) (1859) ; Ent. Mo. Mag., XIX, p. 252 {partim) (1883) ; 

 Shield, Prac. Hints, p. 128, p. 149 {partim), p. 160 {partim) (1856) ; Threlfall, 

 Ent. Mo. Mag., XV, p. 89 (1878). 



= Lita plantaginella, Rchn., Ent. Mo. Mag., 2nd Series, IV, pp. 242—6 (1893). 



Larva — in rootstocks of Plantago coronopus, P. maritima {teste R. Shield and 

 J. H. Threlfall), and occasionally of P. lanceolata {teste N. M. Rchn.) ; apparently 

 sometimes mining the leaves when very young. IV — V, VII — VIII. 



Pupa — inside burrow in rootstock, V — VII, VIII. 



Jjwa^o— VI— VII, VIII— IX. 



Broods — two, regularly, according to Mr. Richardson's experience. Mr. W. H. 

 B. Fletcher and myself have only, as yet, met with larvae of the earlier one. 



Hah. : Great Britain; generally distributed all round the coast- 

 lines, and in salt-marshes, and occurring as far north as the Shetland 

 Isles. Ireland — Dublin, Co. Derry. 



In Ent. Ann., 1856, p. 52, Mr. Stainton states that Mr. Shield bred " Gelechia 

 instabilella" from " larvsB found early in April, near Dublin, mining the leaves of 

 Plantago maritima," and in Ent. Mo. Mag., XIX, p. 252, he refers this insect, 

 which he there distinctly says Shield " bred from the leaves," to the species that 

 he proceeds to describe as plantaginella. In his collection of coloured drawings 

 is the one by Mr. Wing (alluded to in Ent. Mo. Mag., I. c.) of these Dublin larvae ; 

 it is numbered ^\, and represents a plant of P. maritima, with two mined leaves. 



