18M.J 269 



"In the spring of the year 1877, I revisited the place where the above- 

 mentioned insect was taken, the Old Hills, in Worcester, and succeeded in obtaining 

 four larvae. Two I sent to the late Mr. Stainton, who wrote, July 10th, that he had 

 bred a ^ moth from one case, and that it was ' in very good condition on one side, 

 but rather crippled on the other.' This specimen sliould be discoverable in the col- 

 lection left by that gentleman. In December he wrote again to say that ' the second 

 ease had not favoured him with a moth.' The cases I retained yielded me nothing. 



" The nest, and last, time I sought for the creature was in the spring of 1882, 

 when I took five larvas. From one of these was bred a ? moth ; from another a 

 pupa fell out, and died ; a specimen of a species of Braconidce came from a third ; 

 while the others contained dried-up larvae. 



" The larva is stout, and brown, with head and corselet black. The larva-case 

 has no anal opening. The boughs on which the larvae occurred bore a good crop of 

 lichen. 



" The ? motli emerges completely from its case, and stands thereupon, with its 

 head towards the twig, and its ovipositor directed outward and prominent. I 

 watched the creature from time to time during two or three days before disturbing 

 it, during which time it maintained the same posture. 



" I forward the male moth and the pupa for inspection, also one of the larva- 

 cases." 



Upon looking at this case, I instantly recognised Bruand's " thick ovate case, 

 which stands perpendicularly from the plane of its position," and in Mr. Fletcher's 

 clear description of the posture of the female, precise agreement with that figured 

 by the same author. Finally, I went to South Kensington, and looked at our late 

 friend Stainton's collection. Among the Psychidce, placed with the other Bombyces, 

 disappointment met me : they were all evidently well-known species ; but, by good 

 fortune, the idea of looking among the SoletwbicB presented itself, and there, very 

 obviously, was the moth, rather crippled on one side, but on the other agreeing most 

 accurately with Bruand's figure and description — F. tahulella evidently, but un- 

 named. It is very nearly of the size and shape of F. hetulina, but with the fore- 

 wings slightly narrower and more pointed, and the apex of the Mnd--wmga also more 

 produced and pointed, so that the hind-margin of these wings is very little rounded ; 

 colour, pale bronzy grey-brown. The female is very like that of the previous species, 

 its anal tuft brownish. 



The larva has a shining black head, legs, and dorsal plates, but its body colour 

 is variously stated to be brown, pale ochreous, and blackish-grey, so that our know- 

 ledge of it is not yet complete. The pupa of the male is exceedingly neat, short, 

 plump, prettily rounded, with short abdomen, the segments well supplied with the 

 minute points which enable it to wriggle itself out of its case, and into danger. The 

 case is round, short, thick, with the base broad and open, so that it does not lie 

 obliquely, like those of most other species. Bruand found it on old oak palings, and 

 on mossy branches of wych-elm. The larva becomes full-fed in June, and the moth 

 emerges in July. 



39, Linden Grove, Nunhead, S.E. : 

 October lOih, 1894. 



