148 BRITISH LEPIDOPTERA. 



iv., p. 15 (1843) ; vi., p. 11 (1845) ; viii., p. 13 (184G) ; Zell. (and Lienig), " Isis," 

 1846, p. 270 ; Dup., " Cat.," p. 355 (1844) ; Tgstr., " Bidr.," p. 107 (1847) ; Heydrch., 

 "Lep. Eur. Cat. Meth.," ed. 3, p. 78, no. 31 (1851) ; H.-Sch., " Sys. Bearb.," v., 

 pi. xlvi., fig. 319 (1851) ; Koch, " Schm. S.-W. Deutsch.," p. 373 (1856). Margini- 

 punctella, Sta., " Man,," ii., p. 286 (1859) ; Morris, " Brit. Moths," iv., 13, pi. 98, 

 fig. 2 (1870) ; Jourd., " Ann. Soc. Ent. Fr.," 4 ser., x., 115 (1870). 



Original Description. — Tinea herminata. La Teigne a bordure 

 herminee. Long. 2 lig. Tinea fusca, linea duplici transversa flava, 

 margine alarum undique flavo inter secto. Loc : Larva habitat liche- 

 num scriptum (Geoffroy*, Ent. Paris., ii., p. 332). [This insect is 

 Geoffrey's No. 41 (Hist, des Ins., p. 198), which is unnamed, but the 

 description reads as follows : — " Tinaea fusca, linea duplici transversa 

 flava, margine alarum undique flavo intersecto. La teigne a bordure 

 herminee. Longueur 2 lignes. Sa couleur est toute brune en-dessus 

 et en-dessous ; mais en-dessus il y a deux lignes ou bandes jaunatres 

 qui parcourent les ailes transversalement, l'une plus haut, 1' autre plus 

 bas, et de plus les bords, tant exterieurs qu'inferieurs des ailes, sont 

 entrecoupes de brun et de jaune. La chenille de cette teigne mange 

 un petit lichen imitant une poussiere noire, qui vient sur les arbres et les 

 treillages, et son fourreau noir paroit forme de cette meme poussiere."] 



Imago. — Head yellow. Anterior wings 10-14mm., glossy golden- 

 brown (tinged with purplish) ; spaces between nervures with small 

 yellow dots especially well marked on costa and outer margin, one very 

 large spot on the inner margin rather more than one-third from the 

 base ; fringes latticed with yellow and ground colour. Posterior wings 

 and fringes unicolorous, dark grey, tinged with purplish. 



Sexual dimorphism.- — The males and females both appear to be 

 subjected to similar size and colour variations. The female is, however, 

 at once distinguishable from the male by the woolly anal tuft. Zeller 

 says that the females have the head hairs of a deeper rust-yellow and 

 that the wings are more distinctly spotted than are those of the male, 

 especially on the costa. 



Variation. — The males vary from 10'5mm. -14mm., the females from 

 10mm. -14mm. Some males are almost unicolorous golden-brown 

 with only a trace of the normally large yellow spot on the inner margin, 

 and two or three minute yellow costal spots towards the apex visible ; 

 others have a yellow inner marginal spot and one towards the base of costa 

 well developed, which apparently tend to form a transverse yellow basal 

 band ; others, again, have this band and a second broken band beyond 

 the middle of the wing, extending from the costa to the anal angle, 

 whilst occasionally there is a series of yellow points forming a curved 

 line enclosing the apex of the wing. The more usual form is for the 

 yellow spots to be arranged irregularly between the nervures, and then 

 their resemblance to the pale patches of Taleporia, Solenobia, &c, is 

 very evident. One form of the insect was named by the early authors, 

 and treated by them as a distinct species. This is : 



a. var. siderella, H.-Sch., " Sys. Bearb.," pi. xlvi., fig. 319, teste Zeller (1851) ; 

 Koch, " Schmett. Deutsch.," p. 373 (1856). Marginepunctella var. b., Zell., " Linn. 

 Ent.," vii., p. 360-1 (1852). — Al. ant. costte maculis duabus, priore maculae dorsali 

 opposita, posteriore in strigam continuata. ? (Zeller). 



* This work is generally cited to Fourcroy, who only edited it, the work itself 

 being written by Geoffroy, and is a precis of his Hist, des Insectes, the insects being 

 numbered to correspond therewith, and every word in the abbreviated description is 

 copied therefrom. 



