nepticula sericopeza. 345 



near Cambridge ; they were all at, or near, the extremity of the lower 

 boughs of a tree which grew on a hedgebank, the lower branches of 

 the tree spreading far across a considerable ditch, and then over the 

 pathway alongside of it. At the end ot August, 1881, Warren found 

 a number of cocoons on the keys (often unmined) and leaves of maple, 

 also some on the leaves of an elder bush growing beneath the maple. 

 The cocoons found on the leaves were on the upper surface, and, when 

 on the keys, generally at the extreme tip. Warren considered there 

 must have been some hundreds of cocoons on the one tree from which 

 these were gathered, as he collected about six score within reach of his 

 stick. In no instance did he find the cocoon attached to the mined 

 key, as described by Stainton. It is unknown how, or where, the 

 winter larvae hybernate, but Warren says there can be no doubt that the 

 April and May larvae have hybernated and not fed up quickly in the 

 early spring. 



Time of appearance. — The species is double- or probably con- 

 tinuously-brooded, the imagines appearing in April-May from hyber- 

 nated larvae, again in June-July from lame that feed up in May- 

 June, and yet again August (end)- September from larvae feeding up 

 in August (early). Mann records imagines at the beginning of May, 

 1846, at Salviano, in Tuscany, on maples. He also obtained others 

 in May, at Brussa, in Asia Minor. Goureau bred imagines June 

 28th-July 1st, 1859, from larvae obtained June 13th, 1859, at Santigny. 

 Stainton took imagines, on the Dartford Heath fence, on June 22nd, 

 1852, and again on June 28th, 1863, at Lewisham. Warren bred 

 imagines in June from cocoons spun by hybernated larvae the last 

 week of May, 1883, and the same observer had previously bred 

 imagines throughout September, 1881, from cocoons collected at the' 

 end of August at Cambridge. In the second week of September, 

 1881, Warren discovered a female busy ovipositing, and hence sur- 

 mised that there might be a succession of broods all the summer. 

 Threlfall has specimens bred August 20th from larvae obtained August 

 7th, at Cambridge. Sorhagen gives the imago as appearing in April 

 (end) -May, and again in June (end) -July, at Hamburg, the former 

 from hybernated larvae, the latter from larvae that mine in the fruits 

 of Acer campestris at the end of May. Nolcken found imagines May 

 25th-28th, 1850, at Eiga, on the linen material of a tent in his garden, 

 placed under some old trees of Acer campestris. Wocke discovered 

 full-fed larvae in April, hanging from the twigs by silken threads or 

 spinning cocoons on trunks of trees. These produced imagines 

 in about fourteen days, imagines of the next brood appearing 

 from the commencement to the end of June, the pupal life of this brood 

 being shorter than that of the former brood. He adds that the larvae 

 of the summer brood can be found when the ripe and unripe maple 

 keys are falling in numbers. Frey records imagines at Zurich in 

 May, 1867, and later in the year cocoons on the same tree-trunks. 

 The first generation mined the fruit which the larvae leave near the stalk 

 at the end of May. The larvae of the second brood hybernate from 

 autumn to end of April, when they pupate (Sorhagen . 



Food-plants. — Acer platanoides (Goureau), Acer campestre (Wocke), 

 Acer pseudo-platanus (Frey). 



Localities. — Cambkidge : nr. Cambridge (Warren). ? Gloucester : Bristol 

 (Sircom). Kent: Dartford Heath, Lewisham (Stainton). Sussex: Arundel Park 

 (Fletcher). 



