June, I902.] KeARFOTT : On NoRTH AMERICAN ChOREUTES. 119 



evidence that they come outside, as the under side of the leaves was 

 covered with a slight web of silk. This may be the foundation for 

 cocoons which are spun under the leaves and below the thistle head in 

 any convenient partially protected angle. It is also possible that the 

 larvK eat the epidermis from the under side of the leaves, as they ap- 

 pear to- have been eaten in spots, but not nearly sufficient for the sus- 

 tinence of the larv^ and my opinion is that their principal food is 

 the pith. 



Mr. Meyrick makes the following comparison between bjerkandrella 

 and cardiiiella : 



"On comparison of your specimens of Choreutis with C. bjerkandrella, I am de- 

 cidedly of the opinion that, though very closely allied, they are quite distinct specific- 

 ally. It would he possible that the exhibition of connecting forms from other parts of 

 America might modify this view, but I do not know of any such. The points of dif- 

 ference on which I should rely are as follows : 



1. C. bjerkandrella has a silver spot on the middle of the costa of the fore wing, 

 which is wholly absent in your species. 



2. In C. bjerkandrella the two light fasciae of fore wing form white spots on 

 costa, in yours they do not. 



3. In C. bjerkandrella the anterior edge of the second light fascia is entire, 

 whilst in your species it is interrupted from the middle to near dorsum, there being a 

 fulvous streak in its place, which is absent in bjerkandrella. 



4. The fasciae of lighter irroration are much broader and more extensive in your 

 species. 



5. The silver streak on the anterior margin of the second fascia towards costa is 

 very much more oblique in your species. 



6. In C. bjerkandrella there is a short white post-median bar in hind wings ; in 

 your species this is barely indicated by two dots or two white scales each, which are 

 moreover differently placed and nearer the termen. 



These points appear to me to be all quite constant, and fully sufficient. 



I enclose a specimen of C. bjerkandrella from New Zealand as a type for your 

 use ; I am not aware that it differs in any obvious way from South European ex- 

 amples. 



Does the true C. bjerkandrella occur in America, or do the published records of 

 it refer to your species ? 



Lord Walsingham's comparison of bjerkandrella and carduiella is 

 as follows : 



" I am very much obliged to you for allowing me to keep the three specimens of 

 Choreusis sent for examination. I am not acquainted with any description of either 

 of them. 



" At a time when I was not in possession of so large a series of North Amertcan 

 representatives of this genus as I now have, I was unable to separate specimens from 

 California or from Missouri from the European bjerkandrella Thunb., which has been 



