278 BRITISH LEPlDOPTERA. 



NEPTICULA IGNOBILELLA, Stainton. 



Synonymy.— Species : Ignobilella, Sta., "Cat. Brit. Tin.," p. 29 (1849) ; "Ins. 

 Brit.," p. 302 (1854); " Nat. Hist. Tin.," L, p. 246, pi. vii., fig. 1 (1855) ; " Man.," 

 ii., p. 434 (1859); H.-Sch., " Sys. Bearb.," v., p. 350 (1855); Frey, "Linn. 

 Ent.," xi., p. 414 (1857) ; Constant, " Mem. Nat. Hist. Autun," xii., p. 354 (1866); 

 Sand, "Cat. Lep. Auvergne,?' p. 201 (1879); Wallgrn., "Ent. Tids.," ii., p. 127 

 (1881) ; Snellen, " De Vlinders,"etc, p. 988 (1882) ; Wood, " Ent. Mo. Mag.," xxx., 

 p. 47 (1894); Meyr., "Handbook," etc., p. 721 (1895). Iciiwbiliella, Staud. 

 and Wocke, " Cat.," p. 337 (1871) ; Sorhagen, "Die Kleinschmett. Brandbg.," 

 p. 345(1886). 



Original description. — Nepticula ignobilella, Sta. ? Posticella, 

 Haw., St. Much less brilliant than N. aurella. Basal portion of the 

 wing brownish ; apex violet ; fascia placed as in aurella, whitish, not 

 silvery ; head of the $ black ; of the $ ferruginous (Stainton, Sys. 

 Cat. Brit. Tin. and Pterophoridae, p. 29). This was extended by 

 Stainton, in the Insecta Britannica, pp. 302-303, where he writes as 

 follows: " N. ignobilella, Sta., Cat., p. 29 (1849); ? aurella var. B, 

 Haw. ; ? posticella, St. Alis anticis dilute aureo-brunneis, apicem 

 versus purpureo-tinctis, fascia recta pone medium, parum nitida, luteo- 

 albida ; capillis ferrugineis. Exp. al. 2^1in. Head and face reddish- 

 yellow. Palpi whitish. Antennae fuscous, basal joint whitish. Anterior 

 wings pale golden-brown ; beyond the middle is a straight, yellowish- 

 white, slightly shining fascia ; the apex of the wing has a purplish 

 tinge ; cilia fuscous. Posterior wings pale grey, with pale grey cilia. 

 Appears in May and August, but not frequently met with. The 

 yellowish larva mines in hawthorn leaves in autumn and July, but has 

 not at present been distinguished from the larva? of N. pygmaeella and 

 N. gratiosella." 



Imago. — Head reddish. Anterior wings 5 mm. ; pale golden- 

 brown ; a straight yellowish-white, slightly shining, transverse fascia 

 beyond the middle ; the apex of the wing tinged with purplish ; cilia 

 fuscous. Posterior wings and cilia pale grey. 



Comparison of N. ignobilella with its allies. — N. ignobilella 

 belongs to that section of the genus in which the dark anterior wings 

 have a single shining pale fascia. In this section it may be distinguished 

 by the anterior wings from the base to the fascia being entirely of a 

 pale golden-brown, resembling N. aurella in colour, only paler, and 

 without the purple tinge beyond the middle, which we notice in N. 

 aurella, N. plagicolella, etc. The straightness of the fascia distinguishes 

 it readily from jY. titgrella, and the greater breadth and glossiness of 

 the anterior wings separate it from N. microtheriella (Stainton). 



Egg-laying. — The egg is laid on the under (Stainton adds " rarely 

 on the upper ") surface of a hawthorn leaf, well away from the edge, 

 and often quite in the middle of the leaf. 



Mine. — The mine forms a pale blotch near the edge of a hawthorn 

 leaf, and in the mine is a slender irregular track of black excrement. 

 The larva commences to mine in a very slender gallery towards the 

 edge of the leaf, frequently keeping close to the edge for some time. 

 In this first portion of its mine the excrement forms a black line of 



* Stainton writes : "An indifferent description of this species, which was not 

 then distinguished from some of its allies, occurs in Stainton's Cat. of Brit. 

 Tineidae, p. 29, but the only definite description yet extant is that in the Insecta 

 Britannica, etc., p. 302, where the name is restricted to the species" (Nat. Hist, 

 Tin., i., p. 252). 



