TINEINA. 9 
for the mined place becoming discoloured can be distinguished 
from a considerable distance; and not only so, but the mined 
place remains a sign-post that such a larva had been feeding there 
as long as the leaf remains on the plant; thus, whereas in the 
Rhopatocera and larger groups of the Heterocera, it would be im- 
possible, from the sight of a half-eaten leaf, to name the species 
or even the genus to which the larva that had eaten it belonged, 
in the smaller families of the Zineina not the slightest difficulty 
occurs. 
Some of the perfect insects fly during the hot sunshine, but the 
greater portion fly in the early morning or in the evening twilight. 
That many species fly during the night I have palpable demonstra- 
tion, from the Tiare that have occasionally been attracted by 
my light. 
The summer months, May to August, are those in which the 
Tineina most abound; in September and October they are far 
more plentiful than is usually imagined, only that after the middle 
of August they keep themselves so well concealed, and so rarely 
stir abroad, that they are scarcely ever seen, but by collecting the 
larvee previously the perfect insects may be freely bred im those 
months. 
In the winter months but very few species emerge from the pupa 
state, though many of those hatched in the autumn hybernate, 
and are seen commonly in the spring (as, for instance, Depressaria 
applana). 
The great bulk of the species pass the winter in the larva state, 
generally without feeding ; some, whose tastes are adapted for the 
consumption of decaying wood, of which a supply is at all seasons 
available, continue to feed throughout the winter, and some, which 
feed on plants whose stems or leaves remain through the winter, 
also abstain from fasting. 
Little is as yet known of the geographical distribution of this 
group, but few species having been collected out of Hurope; with 
regard to the Huropean species there is this peculiarity, that the 
species seem far more generally distributed than we find to be the 
case in the larger groups of Lepidoptera, and if it be true that 
England was separated from Hurope before the Rhopalocera were 
distributed over that continent (hence accounting for the extreme 
paucity of species with us), the Zimeima must have preceded the 
Rhopalocera, since of the continental species by far the greater 
portion are indigenous to these islands. 
The families of the Zineina which are represented in this country 
may be arranged in the following table :— 
VOL. III. c 
