1894.] 273 



light, especially towards tlie apex ; a broad, ill-defined, ■whitish fascia at two-third3 



of the wing length, scarcely oblique, but slightly inclining outwards from the costal 



margin to before the anal angle, somewhat narrower in the middle than on the costal 



and dorsal margins ; cilia brownish-grey, paler on their outer half and about the 



anal angle. Hind-wings greyish, cilia with a slightly browner tinge. Abdomen 



brownish-cinereous. Posterior legs pale cinereous. 



Exp. alar., 4"5 — 6 mm. Yb (in confinement). 



Larva greenish-white ; head pale amber, immediately behind which are a pair 

 of conspicuous dark spots, the cephalic ganglia ; burrows in the leaf with the back 

 uppermost. Mine a long angular gallei'y, moderately wide, with the frass black 

 throughout and deposited in a thread-like line. Egg on the under-side of the leaf. 

 Single brooded. YII. 



Cocoon an imperfect oval, being wider at the mouth than at the other end, 

 smooth and dark brown ; on, or just beneath, the surface of the soil. 



The perfect insect comes very near lapponica — "painfully" so as 

 Lord Walsingham observed, but may be known by its darker colour 

 and more distinct fascia. Its position as an unquestionably good 

 species must, therefore, chiefly rest on the larval characters, and these 

 are ample for the purpose. Thus, instead of greenish- white, the larva 

 of lapponica is yellow, with a black head and black plate on segment 2, 

 the latter much obscuring the brown cephalic ganglia. The mine also 

 of lapponica is quite distinct : in the early part the frass is green, 

 coiled, and quite fills the bore ; afterwards and concurrently with the 

 last moult, it gets collected into a central thread and changes from 

 green to black, becoming from this point 2^ facsimile of the mine of 

 the other. 



Like lapponica it is probably none too easy to rear. Some two or 

 three dozen mines were collected in 1893, but only seven moths were 

 bred. This year I was very anxious to lay in again a store of the 

 mines, as well as of those of lapponica, but both were so scarce that 

 it was idle attempting to collect them. Few however as they were, 

 they held true to their relative dates, confusella just beginning to 

 appear when lapponica was well over. It will, doubtless, be found to 

 be pretty widely distributed. Lord Walsingham has been able to 

 ascertain from dry specimens of the mine I sent him that it occurs 

 near Merton, quite at the opposite side of the country. And in a 

 good series of lapponica bred by Mr. Vine, of Brighton, which he very 

 kindly allowed me to see, was one specimen which, by its dark colour, 

 should be referable to the new species, though, until long and pure 

 series of both insects have been bred, it must remain uncertain how 

 far reliance can be placed upon the characters of the imago alone. 



Tarrington, Ledbury : 



November IGth, 1894. 



