MICROPTERYX AUREATELLA. 157 



collected a long series. Examination of these, both alive and dead, 

 tended to make us suppose that they represented a species distinct 

 from the British examples. Lord Walsingham, however, refers them 

 to If. aureatella, and writes : ." I have examined very long series of this 

 species, ranging from Cannes through Switzerland and the Tyrol to 

 North England. Although at first sight the British specimens appear 

 to be distinguishable, I find variations, especially among the Bergiin 

 examples, which seem to me to connect the two forms. Many of the 

 foreign ones possess a strong golden-green suffusion about the termen 

 (not on the dorsum), and the extra spot is usually (not always) present. 

 Some British examples possess this extra spot, and some foreign 

 specimens are without the terminal gloss. I am driven to the same 

 conclusion as Snellen, that M. aureatella, which certainly occurs 

 at Cannes (as entirely distinct from M. ammanella and M. a'gldella) 

 is inseparable from our British specimens known as allionella, Fab." 

 He also adds : " M. ammanella, Hb. (= anderschella, H.-S. in error), is 

 easily distinguished from 21. aureatella, Scop., by the golden-green 

 gloss on the dorsum from the base to the fascia, whilst 21. aglaella, 

 Dup., is a much smaller species." Meyrick notes (Ent. Mo. Mai/., 

 vol. xxvii., p. 58) that this species is variable in Algeria, but it is possible 

 that Meyrick is here referring toiM. algeriella, Kag. Zeller gives (Linn. 

 Ent., v., p. 330) a table of six different forms which he refers to thL<3 

 species, of which, however, d and e are referred by Wocke • to 

 21. anderschella = ammanella, Hb. (teste Walsingham), and a, b, c to 21. 

 aureatella, but Durrant says that the type of var. c (in Lord Walsing- 

 ham's collection) is a $ of M. ammanella. Zeller's diagnoses of the 

 forms~a and b read as follows : — 



a. — Capillis ferrugineis, alis ant. violaceo-purpureis nitidis, fasciis duabus 

 (altera basim versus, altera media) maculaque magna posticffi costse adhserente- 

 aureis distinctissimis=flWto»c^a, Fab. (Ent. Sys., 3, 2, p. 321) ; Zell. (Linn. Ent., 

 v., p. 330) ; ammanella, Hb., 358; Koch. (Isis, 1848, 950). 



/;. — Macula postica costam non attingente = Adela ammanella, Tr. (Die Schmett., 

 ix., pt. 2, p. 125) ; Zett. (Ins. Lapp., 1008, 10); Lampronia ammanella (St., III., 

 iv., p. 361), etc. 



Lord Walsingham, who has Zeller's insects, writes : " Zeller's 

 type of allionella (a) stands in a block of 13 specimens. Of these, 9 

 are British aureatella received from Stainton. Specimen 10 from 

 Tiedemann, specimen 11 from Livonia and 12 "from Lauban (Wiesen- 

 hiitter) are also the same species. Of these, the British and the 

 Lauban specimens are marked var. b. Therefore, allionella, a, b, 

 Zeller, agree with our British species which we call aureatella. The 

 vars. c, d, e, of allionella, Zeller, are unquestionably the same species 

 that you met with at Cannes, and that I have determined as amman- 

 ella, Hb. (= anderschella, H.-S.). Zeller's allionella, var. /, was 

 founded on Thunberg's description of paijkellella, which we refer to 

 M. thunbergella ; var. /'. must consequently follow its type" [in litt., 

 May 24th, 1898] . 



Frey gives four forms of the species. They are as follows : 



1. — Capillis ferrugineis ; alis anter. nitidis, violaceo-purpureis, fascia fere recta 

 prope basim, fascia vix curvata in medio maculaque costas magna post medium 

 aureis, ciliis marginis postici volaceo-purpureis, 5£ — 5'" = allionella, P'ab. 



2. — Fascia media apicem versus incur vata = var. a. 



3. — Macula costam non attingente = var. /;. 



4. — Puncto aureo costali inter fasciam mediam maculamque costalem. 

 In order to keep as clear as possible the fact that there appear to be 



