1S98.] 263 



NOTES ON THE Vl^ilClVE " AEGYEESTHIA" DECIMELLA, Stn. 

 BT EUSTACE E. BANKES, M.A., F.E.S. 



In his Sup. Cat., p. 10 (1851), Stainton describes as " decimella, 

 n. sp.,^' and doubtfully assigns to the geuus Elachista, a Tineid of 

 which a single specimen was taken by Mr. J. .Tenner Weir on a fence 

 at Camberwell in June, 1850. In the I. B. Lep. Tin., p. 189 (1854), 

 where he treats of it further, he removes it from ElacJiista, and in- 

 cludes it in Argyresthia, adding, however, that he is "by no means 

 certain that it should be referred to this genus, but the structure of 

 the palpi, which remove it from ElacMsta, allow of its being placed in 

 the genus Argyresthia, and the rough head may have been rendered 

 invisible by the distorted mode in which the insect was pinned." In 

 the Ent. Wk. Int., vi, 9 (1859), we are told that it will be omitted 

 from vol. ii of the Manual because the author's theory is that it is not 

 truly British, but was bred from some imported plant in a greenhouse. 

 "When discussing nomenclature, Stainton used to confess how, being 

 at a loss for a name, he christened the insect decimella because it was, 

 as he says in the Sup. Cat., " skewered with a No. 10 solid-headed 

 pin " ! At the sale of Mr. J. J. "Weir's collection at Stevens' rooms 

 in May, 1894, this interesting Tineid passed into my hands, but, un- 

 fortunately, the pin had been cut of£ short close to the thorax, so that 

 there is great risk in trying to thoroughly examine the specimen, and 

 the abdomen had been entirely devoured by mites. The wings, how- 

 ever, are in fine condition, and the head (although almost too much 

 rubbed to help identification), with the antennae and palpi, is present. 

 A fair idea of the general appearance of the moth may be gathered 

 from the coloured figure of it published in F. O. Morris' Nat. Hist. 

 Brit. Moths, iv, pi. cxvi, fig. 6 (1870). To my great regret, I cannot 

 at present throw any light on the identity of the specimen : it has 

 been examined, as far as we dare to do so, by Lord Walsingham, Mr. 

 J. H. Durrant, and myself, but we cannot decide for certain to what 

 genus it belongs, though Lord Walsingham, probably corx'ectly, believes 

 it to be a Lithocolletis ; in any case, its facies is totally distinct from 

 that of any species known to us, nor can we suggest any insect of 

 which it might possibly be a queer aberration. 



My object, however, in writing this note is to clear up a strange 

 confusion that exists in connection with it. In a paper in the Stet. 

 Ent. Zeit., 1864, p. 215, Dr. Wocke says that he met with a number 

 of specimens of an Argyresthia among juniper on a sandy slope on 

 the Bomsdalsfjord, near Vcblungsnaes, in Norway on July 31st, and 



