174 CATALOGUE OF MOTHS. 



188. A. pygmseana. Haw. 



Acrolepia pygmmana. Staint. Man., vol. ii., p. 363. 



,, ,, Meyr. Hdbk. Brit. Lep., p. 772. 



Meyrick says of this insect, " England to Durham, local." I 

 have been quite unable to find any published notice of this as 

 a Durham species, though presumably there must be one, as 

 Mr. Meyrick told me he had no private lists supplied in com- 

 piling his work. It is not in any of the MS. lists I have in 

 my possession. The larva feeds in the leaves of Solanum 

 dulcamara, which is comparatively common in both counties, 

 and extends far up the western dales, though the food plant 

 abounds in many English districts from which the insect is 

 absent. 



189. A. betulella, Curt. 



Acrolepia betulella. Staint. Man., vol. ii., p. 363. 

 „ „ Meyr. Hdbk. Brit. Lep., p. 771. 



This pretty little species was first discovered on birch trees 

 in Castle Eden Dene in August by Mr. J. C. Dale, and was 

 described and figured by his friend Curtis in 1838. Mr. Sang 

 appeared to have some special knowledge of its haunts or habits, 

 for he not only took it regularly there, but he also found it at 

 High Force, Upper Teesdale, and took it there as regularly, 

 though it was scarce in both localities. The "Manual" gives 

 August as the date of its appearance, but it remains out a long 

 time, probably hybernating as an imago, and Sang's dates run 

 from the 1 6th August to 9th October. I was with him in Castle 

 Eden Dene on 2nd October, 1862, when he took three specimens, 

 and I was fortunate enough to capture one. They were all, as 

 were most of Sang's specimens, beaten out of yew. The larva 

 is not known, but an allied Continental species, A. assectella, 

 feeds in flower- stems and leaves of onions and leeks. It is 

 suggested in the Entomologist's Annual for 1867, p. 25, that the 

 larva of betulella may feed on some species of Allium. Allium 

 ursinum occurs commonly in Castle Eden Dene, and Allium 

 scorodoprasum also grows freely in many parts. These are also 



