CLASSIFICATION OP THE PSYCHIDES. 125 



rudimentary maxillary palpi separate the superfamily sharply from the 

 Tineids and allied superfamilies, so the peculiar nature of the larval 

 case, the special (want of) development of the larval anal prolegs, the 

 highly-developed third pair of true legs, the peculiar structure of the 

 larval tubercles and their varied stages of evolution as indicated by 

 their position, the remarkable pupal peculiarities — segments 3-7 

 movable (c?), 3-6 (?) — the character of the dorsal spines, and the 

 specialisation of the anal pupal hooks, intensify the distinction offered 

 by the imaginal characters, and offer, at the same time, in their modi- 

 fications, characters for its internal sub-division. 



On comparing the families included in the group with which we 

 are dealing, we find that the Diplodomidae and Taleporiidae {Bankesia 

 and Taleporia) offer males with ocelli at the base of the antennas ; these 

 are not found in the Naryciidae and Solenobiidae. Similarly, the Diplo- 

 domidae and Taleporiidae have large cases trigonal in section, the Nary- 

 ciidae and Solenobiidae smaller eases and much more cylindrical in 

 general appearance. On the other hand, the Diplodomidae and 

 Naryciidae present us with winged females, with anal tuft ; the Tale- 

 poriidae and the Solenobiidae with almost apterous females with anal 

 tuft. In the larval stage of these families we find that the tubercles 

 are somewhat similar both in structure and arrangement, i and ii 

 being arranged in normal trapezoidal form (i nearer the mediodorsal 

 line than ii), but that, in Taleporia, ii has already commenced to 

 migrate, and is behind i. In the pupal stage, all the Micro- 

 Psychids are structurally very similar, presenting a well-marked 

 dorsal headpiece, a patch of dorsal spines on the front of the abdo- 

 minal segments 3-7, several recurved hairs (modified tubercular seta?) 

 on segments 8-10, and two small dorso-anal spikes. The eggs are 

 moderately solid, not soft and delicate as in the higher Psychids (e.y., 

 Pachythelia villosella) . The mode of egg-laying is similar in the Diplo- 

 domidae and Naryciidae, whose winged females appear to cover their 

 eggs with a patch of silky hairs from the anal tuft, whilst the apterous 

 females of Solenobia, Taleporia, &c, lay their eggs within the larval case 

 (mixing the wool from the anal tuft among them), and not in the 

 pupal-skin, which is drawn out as in the male. 



We observe that Taleporia shows, in some respects, marked characters 

 observed in Diplodoma, and that Solenobia exhibits others observed in 

 Narycia. The question arises, since Diplodoma and Narycia may be 

 assumed by the possession of wings in the females, and their general struc- 

 ture, to represent the more generalised genera, whether the similarities 

 observed really betoken a close alliance between Diplodoma and Tale- 

 poria on the one hand, and Narycia and Solenobia on the other. We 

 surmise that the true explanation is that the ancestral Psychic! had 

 ocelli and wings, that after Narycia (which still retains certain antennal 

 Tineid or Lamproniid features) branched from the main stem it lost 

 its ocelli, but the $ retained its wings, whilst the main stem itself was 

 represented by Psychids that retained the ocelli, and gave off Diplodoma, 

 that the main Psychid stem then developed forms that found it advis- 

 able to lay their eggs in the larval case, and had developed semi-apte- 

 rous females. One of the first branches given off when the stem had 

 reached this stage of specialisation was the Taleporiid, retaining the 

 ocelli and large case, whilst almost simultaneously (or slightly earlier) the 

 Solenobiid branch was separated, and retained some traces of win«-s in 



