NEPTlOULA MARGINICOLELLA. 261 



any previously known species ; from the gut-like appearance of its 

 mine, Mr. Douglas has proposed for it the name of N. viscerella. 

 The imago produced from the yellow larva is the N. centifoliella of my 

 Catalogue, but clearly not the Continental N. centifoliella, which is a 

 rose-feeder. From the tendency of the larva to mine at the edge of the 

 leaf, going even in and out all the serratures of the leaf, I propose to 

 call it marginicolella (Stainton, Zoologist, 1853, p. 3958). The earliest 

 description of the species under this name is as follows : " N. margini- 

 colella, Sta., Zool., 1853, p. 3958. Centifoliella, Sta., Cat. Aurella 

 var. y, Haw. ? Lemniscella, Zell. Alis anticis laete aureo-brunneis, 

 pone medium purpureo-tinctis, apice saturate purpureo, fascia obliqua 

 pone medium argenteo-alba ; capillis $ atris, ? ferrugineis. Exp. 

 al. 2^-3 lin. Head of the male black, of the female reddish-yellow. 

 Palpi whitish. Antenna? fuscous ; basal joint whitish. Anterior 

 wings rich golden -brown, with a purple tinge beyond the middle ; 

 beyond the middle is a rather oblique, silvery-white fascia ; the apex 

 of the wing is deep purple ; cilia pale fuscous. Posterior wings grey, 

 with grey cilia. The yellowish larva mines in autumn and in July 

 the leaves of the elm, making a long, not intertwined, gallery, frequently 

 at the edge of the leaf, going in and out of each serrature " (Stainton, 

 Insecta Britannica, p. 305). 



Imago. — Head of the male black, of the female reddish. Anterior 

 wings 5-6 mm. in expanse ; rich golden-brown in colour, tinged with 

 purple ; beyond the middle is a rather oblique silvery fascia margined 

 towards base with deep purple ; apex deep purple ; cilia pale fuscous. 

 Posterior wings blackish-grey, with grey cilia. 



Sexual dimoephism. — Frey writes : " Im mannlichen Geschlechte, 

 auch wenn wir absehen von der bedeutenderen Kleinheit der Art, den 

 ein wenig breiteren Vorderfliigeln, leicht zu unterscheiden durch den 

 schwarzen Schopf, die grosseren Augendeckel und die an dem 

 Wurzeltheile der Hinterflugel befindlichen, den gewohnlichen dunkel- 

 grauen Franzen aufgelagerten, nur halb so langen schwarzen Schup- 

 penhaare " {Linn. Entom., xi., pp. 443-444). 



Comparison of N. marginicolella with N. aurella, etc. — 2V. 

 marginicolella belongs to that section of the genus in which the fascia 

 on the anterior wings is brilliantly metallic. Among these species it 

 is readily distinguished from all except N. aurella, by the deep purple 

 colour beyond the middle of the anterior wings ; from N. aurella, the 

 narrower, more obliquely placed, and more silvery fascia, readily enables 

 us to separate it, and the black head of the male alone is sufficient 

 to distinguish that sex from the male N. aurella, which has, like its 

 consort, the head reddish-yellow (Stainton). Fletcher, writes : 

 " Heinemann is quite correct in that N. ulmivora has not, and 2V. 

 marginicolella has, the purple border to the silvery fascia well developed." 



Egg-laying. — The egg is sometimes deposited on the upper, but 

 more generally on the under, surface of an elm leaf. 



Mine. — The mine consists of a long gallery placed under the edge 

 of a leaf of elm. At the commencement of its mine the larva leaves 

 only a single track of excrement, but, as soon as the width of the 

 mine will admit, the excrement is placed in a series of grains across 

 the mine, forming little arcs of circles ; the larva almost always goes 

 towards the edge of the leaf, and, when there, continues to keep close 

 to the margin, going in and out of each serrature of the leaf, and 



