278 



BRITISH LEPIDOPTEEA. 



ventro-anal hooks (modifications of the anal prolegs of the larva ?) that 

 characterise the Macro-Psychids. The Fumeids therefore combine, to 

 some extent, the characters of the Micro- and Macro-Psychids, but in 

 a rather different manner from the Luffiids which have Taleporiid 

 pupae. The larval characters, too, are largely Macro-Psychid, the 

 dorsal tubercle ii being nearer the median line than i, otherwise the 

 general structure is that common to almost all the Psychid families. 

 The larvse differ from those of the Luffiids (L. lapidella) in their 

 coloration, in walking when out of their cases as ordinary larvae or 

 nearly so, and especially in having two transverse (subsegmental) 

 ridges across the dorsa of the abdominal segments, of which the 

 anterior is the sharper, the posterior the more rounded, still more in 

 having the trapezoidal tubercles reversed only to the extent that that 

 word implies ( " m m ' ), and not so that they are, as in Luffia, nearly 

 in a straight line (• . . •). In all, the 3rd thoracic plate is 

 well-developed laterally, and is not distinctly divided into two parts at 

 its anterior border. In these respects the Fumeids and Proutiids 

 agree, whilst that of Luffia belongs to a different section of the Psychids 

 (Chapman). The eggs are not quite so delicate as in the higher 

 Psychids and Luffiids. It is essentially in the habit of the female that 

 the Fumeids differ from the Epichnopterygids with which they have 

 been erroneously associated (even being placed in the same genus) by 

 some of our best lepidopterists, and it is just this habit, coupled with 

 a rather more definite specialisation of the pupal and larval characters, 

 that leaves us in no manner of doubt that the Epichnopterygids form 

 a Macro-Psychid family. Still, there are marked structural differences 

 in all the stages between the Fumeids and Epichnopterygids, the latter 

 agreeing more particularly with the Proutiinae than with the Fumeinae, 

 in neuration, antennal structure, and the structure of the anterior 

 tibial spurs. We may here note that in the Fumeid female the 

 corneous plates of the abdomen are one dorsal and one ventral, whilst 

 those of the Luffiid female are divided in the middle line forming two 

 dorsal and two ventral. 



Subfam. : proutiinae. 



Tribe : pkoutiidi. 



We have already discussed the want of homogeneity between the Prou- 

 tiinae and the Fumeinae, the two subfamilies which we have placed in the 

 Fumeidae. The superficial similarity of the male imagines and their 

 almost uniform brown coloration have led not only to their being 

 placed in the same genus, but even to their confusion as species. The 

 male Proutiids have more pointed forewings, the antennae have scale- 

 less pectinations, and the nervure that passes through the discoidal 

 cell bifurcates to form the " cellula intrusa " before leaving the cell. 

 The anterior tibial spurs are variable (from one-half to three-fourths 

 the length of the tibia), and suggest a distinct Luffiid connection, and 

 an intermediate position between the Luffiids and Fumeids. The 

 cases are covered with small pieces of dead leaves, bark, and sometimes 

 lichen, and are, therefore, much nearer, in this respect, to those of the 

 Micro-Psychids than are the Fumeids. The general structure of the 

 larva, pupa, and the female, as well as the habits of the latter, appear 

 to be almost identical in the Proutiinae and the Fumeinae, but in 

 Proutia the larval head (and thoracic plates ?) are black as in the 



