Insects. 8377 



the fascia, not sharply expressed and sometimes slightly interrupted. 

 The fascia, placed a little beyond the middle of the wing, is rather 

 oblique, broad, only distinguished from the ground colour by the 

 intermediate dark line, its purer white colour and greater glossiness ; 

 the space beyond it is paler or darker brown, with a faint yellowish 

 gloss. The cilia are at their bases narrowly pale fuscous, then broadly 

 whitish ; they are also whitish on the costa before the apex, whereas 

 here in N. tiiricella they are dark. The posterior wings and their 

 cilia are whitish gray, rather inclining to yellowish ; the abdomen is 

 pale yellowish gray, with the legs whitish. 



Herrich-Schseffer's fig. 816 agrees thoroughly, only the basal half 

 of the anterior wings, as well as the tip, is too dark. 



Near Brunswick ; scarce on the trunks of beech trees in May. 



Group XL 



The five species with coarsely-scaled anterior wings, and, with a 

 distinct divisional line in the cilia, and with a metallic fascia in the 

 middle of the anterior wings, are extremely difficult to distinguish. 

 They are N. Agrimoniella, N. atricollis, N. angulifasciella, N. Rubivora 

 and N. arcuatella : we have bred them all, and, excepting the last 

 named, in numbers, and we have found that in the form of the fascia, 

 on which authors have laid special stress, they are more or less 

 variable, and that therefore this character is only of secondary im- 

 portance in distinguishing the species. All have the anterior wings, 

 which are more or less coarsely-scaled, similar in form, dilating con- 

 siderably towards the hind margin, blackish, sometimes inclining a 

 little to gray (N. Agrimoniella, male, and N. arcuata). The fascia is 

 moderately broad or narrow, and has considerable silvery lustre ; in 

 general it runs from the middle of the costa rather obliquely towards 

 the inner margin, is refracted above the inner margin, which it reaghes 

 in, or a little beyond, the middle ; in N. Agrimoniella, and often also 

 in the other species, it is refracted in the middle of the wing, or only 

 slightly curved ; at other times it goes in rather an oblique direction 

 to the inner margin. Apparently this fascia consists of two spots, one 

 in the middle of the costa, the other rather posterior on the inner 

 margin ; both have a rather oblique direction posteriorly, and generally 

 meet at an angle, yet often they remain distinctly separated ; the 

 longer the costal spot is in proportion to the dorsal spot, the nearer to 

 the inner margin is the angulation of the fascia, and then the dorsal 

 spot is generally the more posteriorly placed. If the fascia be angu- 

 lated or curved in the middle, as in N. Agrimoniella, both spots are 

 VOL. XXI. K 



