NEPTICULA PLAGICOLELLA. 275 



Darenth, October 25th, 1892, at Elthara, October 2nd, 1892, at 

 Lewisham, and in plum (as well as sloe), on September 26th, 1895, at 

 Lewisham (Bower). Jordan notes the conspicuous blotches made by 

 the larva of this species on the sloe, at Haldon, on September 21st, 

 1865. Threlfall bred it from May 24th-30th, 1879, from larva? obtained 

 at Grange on October 5th, 1878. Nolcken found imagines on June 

 24th, 1862, at Pichtendahl (Fletcher). 



Localities. — Bucks : Loudwater (Boyd) . Cambridge : CheiTyhinton (Farren) . 

 Cheshire: Bowdon (Edleston). Derby: Henhurst (Sang). Devon: Haldon 

 (Jordan), Dawlish (Stainton). Dorset: Portland and Weymouth (Richardson), 

 Purbeck (Bankes). Dublin : Artone, Dunnycarney (Birchall). Durham : Dar- 

 lington (Sang). Herts: Cheshunt (Boyd). Hereford: Tarrington (Wood). 

 Kent : Lewisham, Dartford Heath (Stainton), Darenth and Eltham (Bower). 

 Lancashire: Manchester (Stainton), Preston and Grange (Threlfall). Norfolk: 

 common and widely distributed in West Norfolk, King's Lynn, etc. (Atmore). 

 Suffolk: Rendham (Bloomfield), Lowestoft (Boyd). Sussex: Worthing, abun- 

 dant (Fletcher), Guestling (Bloomfield). Westmorland : Witherslack (Threlfall). 

 Yorkshire : Scarborough and Richmond (Sang), Doncaster (Warren). 



Distribution. — France : Nohaut, Indre (Sand). Germany : gener- 

 ally distributed (Heinemann and Wocke), Potsdam, Havelland, Fried- 

 land, Hamburg (Sorhagen), Frankfort-on-Main (Schmid), Brunswick 

 (Heinemann), Alsace (Peyerimhoff ) , Alt Damm, Jubo (Hering). 

 Netherlands : Groningen, Drenthe, Gelderland, N. Brabant (Snellen). 

 Russia: Finland (Wocke), St. Petersburg (Erschoff), Pichtendahl 

 (Nolcken). Scandinavia : Scania (Wallengren). Switzerland : Zurich, 

 Baden, Bremgarten (Frey). 



NEPTICULA MICROTHERIELLA, Stainton. 



Synonymy.— Species: Microtheriella, Sta., " Ins. Brit.," p. 302 (1854) ;'" Nat. 

 Hist. Tin.," i., p. 118, pi, ii., fig. 3 (1855) ; " Man.," ii., p. 435 (1859) ; H.-Sch., 

 "Sys. Bearb.," v., p. 350 (1855); Frey, "Die Tineen," etc., p. 386 (1856); 

 "Linn. Ent.," xi., p. 419 (1857); Staud. and Wocke, "Cat.," p. 337(1871); Nolck., 

 "Lep. Fn. Est.," p. 772 (1871) ; Hein. and Wocke, " Schmett, Deutsch," p. 747 

 (1877) ; Sand, " Cat. Lep. Auvergne," p. 201 (1879) ; Bang-Haas, " N. H. Tids.," 

 xiii., p. 217 (1881) ; Peyer., " Cat. Lep. Alsace," 2nd Ed., ii., p. 164 (1882) ; Snellen, 

 "De Vlinders," p. 992 (1882) ; Sorhagen, "Die Kleinschmett. Brandbg.," p. 305 

 (1886) ; Meyr., " Handbook," etc., p. 720 (1895) ; Kirby, " Handbook," etc., 

 vol. v., p. 314 (1897). 



Original description. — Nepticula microtheriella, Wing, n. sp. Alis 

 anticis fuscis, paullulum purpureo-tinctis, praecipue apicem versus, 

 fascia tenui, subobliqua pone medium albida ; capillis luteis, fusco- 

 mixtis. Exp. al. If lin. Head and face yellowish, slightly mixed 

 with fuscous. Palpi whitish. Antennae fuscous, basal joint whitish. 

 Anterior wings fuscous, slightly tinged with purple, especially towards 

 the apex ; beyond the middle is a slightly oblique, rather slender, 

 whitish fascia ; cilia fuscous. Posterior wings grey, with paler cilia. 

 The smallest known lepidopterous insect. Appears in May and 

 August, but rarely met with in the perfect state ; the small yellowish- 

 green larva makes extremely narrow tortuous galleries in the leaves 

 of the nut and hornbeam, occurring in autumn and July. It is some- 

 times so abundant that upwards of thirty may be found in a single 

 leaf. The rather firm cocoon is of a pale buff colour (Stainton, 

 Insecta Britannica, p. 302). 



Imago. — Head ochreous. Anterior wings 3-4 mm. ; fuscous slightly 

 tinged with purple, especially towards the tip ; beyond the middle is 

 a slightly oblique, rather slender, whitish, transverse fascia ; cilia 

 blackish-grey. Posterior wings grey with paler cilia. 



