116 BRITISH LEPIDOPTERA. 



Psychid phylum have a great antiquity is certain, and, whilst dealing 

 with this point, one cannot help calling attention to the fact that Stephens 

 twice (? thrice) described Narycia monilifera (inelanella) and placed it on 

 one occasion among the Lepidoptera, and on another among the Trichop- 

 tera, whilst Jordan remarked (Ent. Alo. J\lag.,xx., p. 221) that, though 

 the testimony of the rocks might be against him, he could not help 

 indulging in the hypothesis that " the archaic form of lepidopterous life 

 was almost a land Trichopteron," and that " the cases of these early 

 Psychids might yet be found in the fossil state." If so, one would 

 hardly expect to find the complicated structures resembling those of 

 the higher Psychids of to-day, but rather simple structures, more 

 closely allied to those woven by Taleporia and Solenobia. 



In the Agricultural Journal, published by the Department of Agri- 

 culture of the Cape of Good Hope, February 16th, 1899, pp. 211-215, 

 Lounsbury gave an account of a Psychid which he believed to have 

 been indigenous on thorn trees, but which had transferred itself to the 

 imported " wattle " trees, that it was reported to be injuring very 

 severely, whilst another species was, at the same time, mentioned as doing 

 much damage to the vine. So far as one can judge from the cases, the 

 first is a Psychid, the second a Fumeid. Fallou gives (Revue Sci. Nat. 

 Appliq., xl., July, 1893, pp. 79-85) an account of the unprecedented 

 abundance of Hyalina atra, L. (? Psyche angustella, H.-S.) in Auvergne, 

 in 1892, when it committed considerable damage to the pastures of the 

 mountain regions of that district, although usually not particularly 

 abundant there. 



The distribution of the higher Psychids is perhaps best learned 

 from Kirby's Catalogue, pp. 500-524. From this we gather that the 

 genus Aconsmaticus comes from Chili, Oikcticus from California, the 

 southern United States, Central America, the West Indies and occurs 

 in S. America to Patagonia ; Tlvyridoptei-yx comes from N. America 

 and the West Indies ; Dipyle from Mexico, 2Ietura, (jlania and Lomera 

 from Australia, Liothula from New Zealand, Dappula from Ceylon and 

 Hongkong, Metiser and Aprata also from Ceylon, and Deborrea from 

 Madagascar. The distribution of the two species of Manatha — one in 

 Ceylon the other in Texas, and the distribution of Eumeta — Gambia, 

 Delagoa Bay, Cafi'raria, Ceylon, East Indies, Australia, China, Japan, 

 Surinam and Brazil — make one doubt whether the species are naturally 

 allied that are included in these genera. Anesina, Barandra, Dasaratha, 

 Babula, Rasicota, Motfatia, Eurukuttarus, Kophene and Mahasena are 

 Indian genera ; Plateumeta is Japanese ; Animida extends from Australia 

 and Sumatra to Venezuela and Brazil ; whilst Bombalina is found in India 

 and Natal. Chalia is undoubtedly a mixed genus (as used by Kirby) with 

 several divergent elements, and its distribution would be misleading. 

 Canephora, Amicta, Fttmaria, Oreopsyche, Sterrhopterix, Phalacropterix, 

 Apterona, Stichobasis, Psychidia, Epichnopteryx, and Fumea are (as used 

 by Kirby) essentially Palfearctic genera, but Psyche is practically cos- 

 mopolitan and probably (with the exception of the Palasarctic and 

 Nearctic elements) heterogeneous. Platoeceticus, (Edonia, Sapinclla, 

 Thanatopsyche, PsycJiographa and Psychonoctua are American ; Orophora 

 comes from New Zealand, and (ienduara from Australia. Little is 

 known of the distribution of the generalised families outside the 

 Palasarctic region, but where this is known it is mentioned in our 

 account of the family, subfamily, or genus, as the case may be. 



