NEPTtCULA ATRICAPITELLA. 187 



tribufced and common (Heinemann and Wocke) ; Frankforfc-on-Main 

 (Heyden), nr. Glogau (Zeller), Potsdam, Berlin, Friedland, Hamburg, 

 Stettin, etc. (Sorhagen), Brunswick (Heinemann), Pomerania (Hering), 

 Alsace (PeyerimhofT). Italy : Tuscany (Mann), Trieste, ? Nizzardo 

 (Curo). Netherlands: widely distributed and not rare (Snellen). 

 Bus'sia : Pichtendahl (Nolcken). Switzerland : nr. Bremgarten (Boll), 

 nr. Zurich (Frey). 



nepticula ruficapitella, Haworth (? var. prsec. sp.). 



Synonymy. — Species : Ruficapitella, Haw., " Lep. Brit.," pt. iv., p. 586 (1828) ; 

 Stphs., "111.," iv., p. 269 (1835); Wood, "Index," etc., 1363 (1839); Sta., "Sys. 

 Cat.," p. 28 (1849) ; "Ins. Brit.," p. 297 (1854) ; " Nat. Hist. Tin.," i., p. 272, pi. 

 vii., fig. 2 (1855); " Man.," ii., p. 431 (1859); H.-Sch., "Sys. Bear.," v., p. 348 

 (1855) ; Frey, "Die Tineen," etc., p. 371 (1856) ; "Linn. Ent.," xi., p. 370 (1857) ; 

 Staud. and Wocke, "Cat." etc., p. 335 (1871) ; Nolcken, "Lep. Fn. Est.," p. 755 

 (1871) ; Wallgrn., " Bihang Vet.-Ak. Handl.," iii., p. 80 (1875) ; Mill., " Cat. Lep. 

 Alp.-Mai\." p. 372 (1875) ; Hein. and Wocke, " Schmett. Deutsch.," p. 730 (1877) ; 

 Sand, " Cat. Lep. Auv.," p. 200 (1879) ; Wallgrn., " Ent. Tids.," i., p. 125 (1881) ; 

 Snellen, " Vlinders," etc., ii., p. 981 (1882) ; Peyer., "Cat. Lep. Als.," 2nd Ed., 

 p. 163 (1882) ; Curo, " Atti della Soc. Nat. Modena," xvi. (1883). ? Samiatella ? , 

 Zell., "Isis," 1839, p. 215 ; Linn. Ent., iii., p. 303, in part (teste Frey). Atricapitella , 

 Sorhagen, " Die Kleinschmett. Brandenburg," etc., p. 302, in part (1886); Meyr., 

 " Handbook," etc., p. 714, in part (1895). Lamprotornella, Heyd. (teste Frey). 



Original description. — Tinea (The red-headed Pygmy) alis anticis 

 auratis, limbo postico purpurascente ; capite rufescente. Expansio 

 alarum 2f .'" Prsecedenti (atricapitella) vix differt nisi in capite rufo 

 seu ferrugineo nee aterrimo, et costa absque purpureo. Habitat prope 

 Londinum (Haworth, Lepidoptera Britannica, pt. iv., p. 586). 



Imago.- — Head ferruginous. Anterior wings 5-6 mm. ; rather pale 

 bronzy in colour, with the apex violet, the cilia greyish. Posterior 

 wings pale grey with still paler cilia. 



Comparison of N. ruficapitella with N. atricapitella, etc. — The 

 bronzy basal half of the anterior wings does not allow of its being 

 confused with either N. pygmaeella, N. oxyacantliella or N. viscerella. 

 N. anomalella has the basal half of the wing of a paler bronze, and the 

 apex of the wing is more abruptly violet, besides being a smaller insect. 

 N. ruficapitella comes nearest to N. atricapitella, from which, however, it 

 can be at once distinguished by the colour of the head, which, in N. rufi- 

 capitella, is reddish-yellow, whereas in N. atricapitella it is black. 

 In the latter species, the ground colour of the anterior wings is a 

 little darker than in the former, and the wings being rather broader and 

 shorter, give N. atricapitella a more thick-set appearance (Stainton). 

 Sorhagen states that N. atricapitella is the $ and N. ruficapitella is 

 the J of the same species, and mentions that Hinneberg found the 

 two forms in cop. at Potsdam, on April 28th, 1885. Stainton states that 

 " the capture of several pairs of N. atricapitella, in copula, shows that the 

 species are really distinct." Bankes thinks that N. ruficapitella and N. 

 atricapitella are probably one and the same species. He adds : " In 

 some species of Nepticula the colour of the head is very inconstant, but 

 the difference is not sexual ; whilst in others the difference in the 

 colour of the head is sexual " (in litt.). 



Egg-laying. — The egg is laid on the underside of an oak-leaf, close 

 to a rib. 



Mine. — The mine is at first exceedingly slender, but gradually 

 becomes broader, until at its termination it has reached a considerable 

 width. It is irregular, long, wavy, and of a pale greenish -white 



