iv Mr. H. T. Staintoris 



supersede it ; but the Fabrician description of ephippella leaves no doubt on my mind 

 that this species was intended : the words are " Alae pallide auratse vitta lata, communi, 

 dorsali, nivea, in qua fascia lata aurea." Fabricius gives as a synonyme Tinea pruni- 

 ella, W. V. ; but it appears, from a remark of Zeller's, that in Schiffermuller's col- 

 lection two species — pruniella, H., and spiniella, F-v-R. — are mixed and labelled 

 pruniella. 



In Treitschke we find an (Ecophora pruniella, in the diagnosis of which there is a 

 manifest error, — for ' capite thoraceque fuscis ' read ' niveis : ' this is not important, 

 as in his description the error is not repeated : the species he describes is most proba- 

 bly nitidella, as he talks of " a fascia which does not reach the costa : " he however 

 alludes to varieties in which the colour " of the anterior wings is violetish ; " these pro- 

 bably belong to ephippella. 



Scopoli's description of cornella is much too vague for his name to be retained. 



Sp. 2. nitidella, Fabricius (figs. 2, 3). 



Tinea nitidella, Fabr. Ent. Syst. iii. ii. 291, N. 16. 



Argyresthia nitidella, Z., Linn. Ent. ii. 250. 



Erminea pruni, Haworth, Lep. Brit. 516, 15 



Ederessa pruniella, Stephens, Illust. iv. 249. Wood's fig. 1298. 



Argyresthia pruniella, Z., Isis, 1839, S. 204, 1 var. a. 



Argyresthia maritella, F-v-R. in litt. 



Tinea tetrapodella, Linn.? Syst. Nat. i. ii. 890, 388. 



Var. b. Erminea ossea, Haworth, Lep. Brit. 517, 19. 



„ Ederessa ossea, Steph. Illust. iv. 250. Wood's fig. 1304. 



„ Argyresthia denudatella, F-v-R. in litt. 



Expansion of the wings 4f — 5^ lines. Head white. Face white. Palpi white. 

 Antennae white, annulated with black. Thorax white, with the sides tawny. Abdo- 

 men fuscous. Legs whitish. Tarsi whitish, spotted with black. Anterior wings sil- 

 very or pale tawny, the inner margin brilliant white, interrupted near the anal angle 

 by a fuscous lunule, which terminates in the hinder margin near the costa ; in the 

 middle of the base of the wing is a brown streak, which terminates rather before the 

 middle of the wing; the colour of the costal portion of the wing varies from pale 

 tawny to pale cream-colour: on the costa itself is a brown spot about the middle, and 

 four or five others towards the apex : hinder margin and cilia deep fuscous. Posterior 

 wings griseous, with paler cilia. 



"Var. b. has the anterior wings of a uniform pale cream-colour, with the inner mar- 

 gin white, and with a few dark spots on the costa at the apex, but with hardly any 

 trace of the other markings of the species. 



The direction of the brown fascia (which in this insect is not really a fascia, but, 

 to speak more correctly, an arch or lunule) sufficiently distinguishes this from all the 

 other species of the genus, except the following, but from that this is distinguished by 

 the paler colour of the costal portion of the anterior wings, and by the inner marginal 

 portion expanding just before the fascia, which in purpurascentella it does not. 



This is by far the most abundant species in the genus, and from the end of June 

 to the middle of August is a perfect pest to the collector. Zellcr says that " the lar- 

 va live in multitudes at the beginning of May, in the terminal buds of whitethorn 



