﻿OXYPTILIDI. 
  

  

  411 
  

  

  

  healed 
  round 
  somehow. 
  The 
  sculpture 
  consists 
  of 
  twelve, 
  or 
  so, 
  trans- 
  

   verse 
  ridges 
  or 
  waves, 
  very 
  smooth 
  in 
  outline, 
  with 
  finer 
  sculpture 
  of 
  

   small 
  round 
  pits. 
  These 
  seem 
  to 
  vary 
  into 
  spicule 
  on 
  the 
  ventral 
  

   surface, 
  especially 
  at 
  anterior 
  margin 
  of 
  segments. 
  

  

  The 
  Oxyptiline 
  larvse 
  also 
  vary 
  considerably. 
  Those 
  that 
  are 
  

   largely 
  internal 
  feeders 
  are 
  hardly, 
  perhaps, 
  Platyptiliine, 
  but 
  rather, 
  

   perhaps, 
  Stenoptiliine, 
  in 
  their 
  general 
  appearance 
  and 
  the 
  character 
  

   of 
  their 
  tubercular 
  structure, 
  whilst 
  the 
  largely 
  external-feeding 
  larvae 
  

   are 
  extremely 
  specialised, 
  and 
  the 
  tubercles 
  have 
  become 
  specialised 
  

   into 
  highly-developed 
  warts. 
  The 
  variation 
  in 
  the 
  larval 
  wart 
  structure, 
  

   accompanied 
  as 
  it 
  is 
  by 
  differences 
  in 
  pupal 
  and 
  imaginal 
  structures, 
  

   suggests 
  that 
  our 
  subdivision 
  into 
  the 
  two 
  tribes, 
  Oxyptilidi 
  and 
  

   Capperiidi, 
  is 
  well-founded, 
  the 
  former 
  containing 
  the 
  more 
  generalised, 
  

   the 
  latter 
  the 
  more 
  specialised, 
  species. 
  Without 
  here 
  going 
  into 
  the 
  

   detailed 
  characters, 
  our 
  subdivisions 
  work 
  out 
  as 
  follows 
  : 
  — 
  

  

  OXYPTILIDI 
  

  

  Oxyptilus 
  — 
  pilosellae, 
  Zell., 
  hieracii, 
  Zell., 
  ericetorum, 
  Zell., 
  parvi- 
  

  

  dactyla, 
  Haw. 
  

   Crombrugghia—kollari, 
  Stn., 
  tristis, 
  Zell., 
  distans, 
  Zell. 
  

   Capperiidi 
  — 
  

  

  Geina 
  — 
  didactyla, 
  Linn. 
  

  

  Capperia 
  — 
  leonuri, 
  Stange, 
  heterodactyla, 
  Mull. 
  

  

  Dyar 
  remarks 
  (Journ. 
  New 
  Fork 
  Ent. 
  Soc, 
  iii., 
  p. 
  21) 
  that 
  "the 
  

   Oxyptilid 
  larval 
  characters 
  are 
  very 
  uniform, 
  the 
  tubercles 
  being 
  

   converted 
  into 
  moderate- 
  sized 
  warts, 
  with 
  six 
  to 
  twelve 
  long 
  hairs 
  ; 
  the 
  

   body 
  also 
  rather 
  sparsely 
  covered 
  with 
  short 
  secondary 
  hairs 
  with 
  

   enlarged 
  tips 
  ; 
  i 
  and 
  ii 
  entirely 
  consolidated 
  into 
  a 
  single 
  wart, 
  a 
  single 
  

   long 
  seta 
  behind 
  iv-f-v; 
  viii 
  a 
  single 
  seta, 
  other 
  warts 
  normal. 
  

   Prolegs 
  slender, 
  the 
  crotchets 
  forming 
  two-thirds 
  of 
  a 
  circle 
  od 
  inner 
  

   side." 
  One 
  suspects 
  from 
  this 
  that 
  Dyar's 
  knowledge 
  of 
  the 
  subject 
  

   was 
  limited. 
  It 
  is 
  apparent 
  that 
  periscelidactylus, 
  the 
  species 
  he 
  

   here 
  describes, 
  is 
  a 
  member 
  of 
  the 
  Capperiid 
  section 
  of 
  the 
  Oxyptilines. 
  

  

  One 
  can 
  accept, 
  as 
  an 
  expression 
  of 
  ignorance, 
  Meyrick's 
  remark 
  

   (Trans. 
  Ent. 
  Soc. 
  Loud., 
  1890, 
  p. 
  485) 
  that 
  Oxyptilus 
  (sens, 
  lat.) 
  "is 
  

   especially 
  characteristic 
  of 
  Europe, 
  but 
  stragglers 
  have 
  spread 
  thence 
  

   into 
  the 
  surrounding 
  regions." 
  The 
  fact 
  is, 
  we 
  know 
  next 
  to 
  nothing 
  

   about 
  the 
  " 
  plumes" 
  outside 
  Europe; 
  they 
  have 
  never 
  been 
  worked, 
  and 
  

   their 
  distribution 
  is 
  a 
  closed 
  book. 
  In 
  the 
  broad 
  sense 
  of 
  the 
  term, 
  including 
  

   the 
  Buckleriids 
  (Trichoptilus, 
  Buckleria, 
  etc.), 
  we 
  note 
  that 
  Staudinger 
  

   and 
  Rebel 
  (Cat., 
  3rd 
  ed., 
  pp. 
  70-72) 
  note 
  15 
  species 
  recorded 
  from 
  the 
  

   Pakearctic 
  region, 
  whilst 
  Dyar 
  (List 
  Nth. 
  Amer. 
  Lep., 
  pp. 
  441) 
  records 
  

   seven 
  species 
  from 
  the 
  Nearctic 
  region. 
  One 
  suspects 
  that 
  the 
  Oxypti- 
  

   lines 
  are 
  much 
  more 
  widely 
  distributed 
  in 
  America 
  than 
  is 
  at 
  present 
  

   supposed, 
  and 
  possibly 
  there 
  are 
  as 
  many 
  Nearctic 
  as 
  Pahearctic 
  

   species. 
  

  

  Tribe 
  : 
  Oxyptilidi. 
  

  

  The 
  species 
  of 
  this 
  tribe 
  have 
  already 
  been 
  differentiated 
  by 
  

   Hofmann 
  on 
  imaginal 
  characters, 
  and 
  by 
  Chapman 
  on 
  pupal 
  and 
  larval 
  

   characters, 
  from 
  those 
  of 
  Capperiidi. 
  Hofmann 
  notes 
  (Dm 
  Deutsch, 
  

   Pteroph., 
  pp. 
  100-102) 
  that 
  the 
  Oxyptilids 
  (excluding 
  Buckleria) 
  ean 
  be 
  

   divided 
  by 
  the 
  characters 
  of 
  the 
  J 
  genital 
  organs, 
  with 
  which 
  is 
  

   correlated 
  a 
  difference 
  in 
  the 
  palpi, 
  into 
  two 
  rather 
  large 
  natural 
  groups. 
  

   These 
  groups 
  coincide 
  with 
  our 
  sections 
  Oxyptilidi 
  and 
  Capperiidi. 
  

   His 
  grouping 
  of 
  the 
  species 
  in 
  the 
  first 
  tribe 
  works 
  out 
  as 
  follows 
  : 
  — 
  

  

  