238 BRITISH LEPIDOPTERA. 



the silvery fascia, and before it become for an undecided extent dark 

 brown, with faint purple-violet gloss ; this is also the colour of the 

 space between the fascia and the apex. The protruding scales in the 

 cilia are dark violet ; they lie in two rather regular rows, of which 

 the outer one is the paler ; the tips of the cilia are grey. The 

 posterior wings are rather paler than in X. continuella. I have a pair 

 bred from mines in strawberry leaves, which I could not distinguish 

 from the mines of X.fragaiiella, The male I sent to Frey, who referred 

 it to N. fragariella, remarking that the sexes of that species differ con- 

 siderably. I have myself received X. fragariella from Heyden. It is 

 the species already described (p. 263), and of which Buckheister and I 

 have bred both sexes of quite similar specimens ; likewise of N. 

 dulcella, I have bred both sexes, which also agreed precisely, only that 

 the male, as far as I remember, had more the colour of N. margini- 

 colella, 5 . Moreover, all the specimens of N. fragariella appeared in 

 the warm room, in January, whereas those of X. dulcella do not 

 appear till March, simultaneously with X. angulifasciella ; hence, I 

 believe, I most decidedly recognise in this a new species." 



N. dulcella as a British species. — This species is found in 

 Hutchinson's " List of Herefordshire Lepidoptera," for the micros 

 mentioned in which, Dr. Wood is mainly responsible. He states that the 

 insect here referred to, X. didcella, has been bred at different times 

 from wild strawberry (Fragaria vesca), and was referred to this species by 

 Bankes. Cocoons that Dr. Wood sends us are somewhat similar to, 

 but much smaller than, those of X. fragariella. Fletcher has bred 

 specimens from wild strawberry that he says "may be referable to 

 this species," but which he has " so far been inclined to consider as a 

 small form of X. fragariella, considering that X. didcella, in Britain 

 at least, is a doubtful species." Meyrick writes : " British records of 

 X. didcella, Hein., seem to have been erroneously founded on 

 specimens of this species (X. fragariella)." Unfortunately, Meyrick's 

 remarks about other rare or little- known species, makes one inclined 

 to reject this statement, unaccompanied as it is by any indication of 

 the evidence on which the opinion is based. Wood writes : " The 

 cocoons of X. fragariella in your hands were found when collecting 

 the larvae of X. didcella from wild strawberry, and were separated 

 from them by the character of the mine. X. didcella had a narrow 

 frass-track and very slender mine ; X. fragariella, a broad frass-track 

 and coarser mine " (in litt., June 28th, 1898). In the " Stainton " 

 British collection at South Kensington are specimens bred by 

 Threlfall from strawberry, at Preston. 



Mine. — Like that of X. fragariella (Heinemann). Wood states that 

 the mine is finer and the frass-track narrower, and writes : " The mines 

 of the insect which I refer to N. dulcella, are very long and slender, 

 with the frass collected into a central thread of less than half the 

 diameter of the mine " (in litt.). 



Larva.— The larva is pale yellow, with the head scarcely, if at all, 

 darker (Wood). 



Cocoon. — The cocoons (3) average 2-1 mm. in length, and 1-9 mm. 

 in width, so that they form an oval that approaches to the circular in out- 

 line. In colour they incline to orange-yellow (deeper in tint and much 

 smaller than two cocoons of X. fragariella, that are by their side), with a 

 few fine reticulations of a darker tint. The surface is smooth, and the 



