S0LEN0BIA INCONSPICUELLA. 163 



Solenobia inconspicuella, Stainton. 



Synonymy. — Species: Inconspicuella, Sta., "Cat.," p. 6 (1843); "Zool.," 1849, 

 p. lxi; 1850, p. 2788; "Ent. Comp.," 1st ed , pp. 10, 26, 27, 28 (1852), 2nd ed., 

 pp. 8, 24, 69, 70, 114, 141 (1854) ; " Ins. Brit.," p. 19, pi. i., figs. 5a-c (1854) ; 

 "List Br. An. B. M.," xvi., Lp. 5 (1854); " Man.," ii., p. 286 (1859) ; Zell., "Linn. 

 Ent.," vii., p. 354 (1852) ; Bruand, " Mon. des Psych.," p. 107, pi. ii., figs. 80a-6 

 (1853) ; " Ann. Soc. Ent. Fr.," 3rd ser., vi., p. 608 (1858) ; H.-Sch , " Sys. Bearb.," 

 v., p. 89(1854); Edl., "Ent. W. Int.," v., 146-7 (1859) ; "Zool.," xvii., 6462-3 

 (1859); Hofm., "Berl. Ent. Zeits.," iv., p. 50, pi. ii., fig. 9 (I860) ; Spey., "Nat. 

 Ver. Preuss. Khein.," xxiv., p. 266 (1867) ; Hem., " Schmett. Deutsch. Tin.," p. 25 

 (1870) ; Staud. and Wocke, " Cat.," p. 267 (1871) ; Boyd, " Proe. Ent. Soc. Lond.," 

 1874, p. xi; ?Frey, "Lep. der Schweiz," p. 335 (1880) ; Snell., " De Vlind.," pp. 

 445-6 (1882) ; Pev., " Cat. Lep. Als.," p. 84 (1882) ; Meyr., " Handbook," p. 775 (1895); 

 Barr., " Ent. Mo. Mag.," xxxi., p. 164 (1895); xxxiii., pp. 125-6 (1897) ; Bankes, 

 Ibid., xxxi., p. 220 (1895) ; Chaprnn., Ibid., xxxii., p. 79 (1896) ; Walsrn., Ibid., 

 xxxiii., p. 129 (1897); Beutti, "Lep. Bad.," 2nd ed., p. 306 (1898). Cembrella, 

 Dgl., "Pr. Ent. Soc. Lond.," v., p. xii (1847). ? Triquetrella, Bicd., "Mon. des 

 Psych.," pp. 106-7 (1S53) teste Sta., " Ent. W. Int.," v., p. 147 (1859); "Zool.," 

 xvii., p. 6463 (1859). Triquetrella, Edl., "Ent. W. Int.," v., pp. 146-7(1859); 

 "Zool.," xvii., pp. 6462-3 (1859) teste Walsm., " Ent. Mo. Mag.," xxxiii., p. 129 

 (1897). 



Original description. — Talaeporia inconspicuella, n. sp. Exp. 5 

 lines (the Continental lichenella* expands 8 lines). Anterior wings 

 pale grey, with darker reticulations and nervures ; head black ; ? 

 black. Case 8 lines long, conical (the case of lichenellar is above 

 3f lines long). This is the cembrella of many of our cabinets 

 (Stainton, Sys. Cat. Brit. Tin., p. 6). 



Imago. — Anterior wings 8mm. -12- 5mm. in expanse ; dark grey in 

 colour, freely sprinkled with paler spots, irregular in size and position, 

 but chiefly between the nervures ; cilia pale grey, faintly streaked with 

 darker. Posterior wings and cilia unicolorous pale grey. 



Sexual dimorphism. — As in all the members of this genus the male 

 is fully winged, the female with minute cellular wing-expansions only, 

 i.e., almost apterous. Hofmann notes that "the 5 with extended 

 ovipositor is nearly two lines long, dirty yellow in colour, sometimes 

 reddish-yellow with dark brown head and large prominent black eyes ; 

 the antennaa are black-brown (hardly differing from those of S. triquet- 

 rella), 16-jointed, with a short, pear-shaped, terminal joint; legs 

 black, with 4-jointed, yellow-brown tarsi ; the three thoracic segments 

 bear shiny dark brown plates, the dorsal spots and the double spots on 

 the underside of each abdominal segment are brown ; the spiracles 

 appear as red-brown spots ; the sides of the abdomen are covered with 

 fairly thick brown-grey hair ; the ovipositor is shiny black ; the 

 abdominal tuft white, mixed with grey." Eeutti notes the females 

 from Lahr as " pale yellow, with darker grey dorsal spots and a white 

 anal tuft." 



Variation. — Our British examples are exceedingly variable, even 

 from the same locality, if a long series be examined. In our own 

 series, principally from Surrey (Coverdale's coll.) and Brentwood 

 (Burrows), some have the costa of the forewings slightly convex towards 

 the apex, whilst others are quite straight. One observes, further, that 

 some examples have a strongly-marked patch of dark scales at the end 

 of the discoidal cell, whilst others have not the faintest trace of it. In 

 all, the colour is rather dark grey, but whilst some are coarsely 



* This lichenella of Stainton refers to the clathrrlla (or triquetrella) of our 

 present lists. 



K 2 



