February, 1890. 1 29 



DESCRIPTION OF A 6ELECHIA {PORTLANDICELLA) NEW TO 

 SCIENCE FROM PORTLAND. 



BY NELSON M. EICHAEDSON, B.A. 



In June, 1888, I took at Portland two specimens of a Gelecliia 

 whicli I could not satisfactorily refer to any British species, though it 

 seemed to have affinities with both umbroseJla and mundella. I have 

 this summer taken a few more specimens, and as I was not satisfied 

 to place them with either of the above two species, and could not 

 refer them to anything else, I sent five of them to Mr. Staiuton for 

 his opinion upon them. He says, " I think the five certainly indicate 

 a good species, nearer to mundella than to umhrosella. I am not aware 

 that I ever saw it before." 



This species seems to be decidedly rare at Portland, as though I 

 worked for it in the only locality where it occurs, which is rather 

 limited in area, I only succeeded in getting altogether eight specimens 

 this year. It may be described as follows : — 



Exp. al., 4j — 5i lines. Ground colour of fore-wing pale putty-colour, generally 

 much sprinkled with dark grey scales, especially towards the inner and hind margins ; 

 a narrow blackish line crosses the wing close to the base, and is immediately followed 

 by a blackish spot ; the three usual spots are black, and there is sometimes a small 

 blackish indistinct spot on the inner margin at the inner edge of the pale fascia ; 

 this fascia is of the gi'ound colour, without any dark scales, very distinct, thinnest 

 in the middle, and consists of two opposite spots, which are sometimes joined, but 

 more often very slightly separated from each other by a few dark scales j it is placed 

 three-fourths of the way from the base to the tip of the wing. Fringes like the rest 

 of the wing. Hind-wing pale fuscous, a little darker at the apex. Face and palpi 

 very pale ochreous, except the last joint of the palpi, which is marked with grey 

 towards the tip. Eyes black. Antennae black, with small indistinct pale rings. 

 Head and thorax like the fore-wings, body like the hind-wings, except that the tip 

 is pale ochreous. Legs pale putty-coloured, ringed with grey. 



This species resembles umhrosella in the shape of the wings and 

 the pale fascia, but the black colour of the latter, with its beautiful 

 purple gloss, at once separates the two species. Mundella appears to 

 have broader and more sharply pointed wings than either this species 

 or umhrosella, but I think that this is partly due to the fact, that the 

 darker colour of the fringe in most specimens of mundella causes the 

 wing itself to stand out strikingly, and appear shorter than it is when 

 compared with that of umhrosella. The tip of umhrosella also appears 

 to be more rounded, owing to the difficulty of seeing where the fringe 

 begins, the fringe itself being rounded on the outside margin. Mun- 

 della is, so far as my experience goes, quite destitute of a pale fascia, 

 which serves to distinguish it from the new species, in which the pale 



