COLEOPHORA, 209 
the third joint pointed. Wings elongate, lanceolate, with long cilia. 
In the anterior wings the subcostal vein is obsolete towards the base a 
from the discoidal cell three veins run to the costa, one to the apex, 
and three to the hinder margin; the subdorsal vein has a long fork, 
In the posterior wings the fureate apical vein terminates above and be- 
low the apex; the discoidal vein is simple; the median bifid. The 
larva a case-bearer, changing to a pupa within the case. 
The species of this genus are rather numerous, no less than 
forty-one British being already known, and many others occur on 
the continent. The perfect insects of some species may be found 
commonly on palings and trunks of trees, but the greater part 
lead a very retired life, and are rarely seen; the tree-feeding spe- 
cies may be observed in windy weather, flying on the lee-side of 
the trees, endeavouring to resume their position on the branches, 
from which the agitation of the foliage had dislodged them; the 
other species are rarely met with on the wing, and fly only for short 
distances if accidentally started from their retreats. Some of the 
species are of brilliant metallic colours, others of a uniform brown 
or ochreous, but the greater part are distinguished by pale longi- 
tudinal streaks upon a dark ground. ‘The larvee are” especially 
) distinguished by their cases and their mode of feeding. ‘The 
cases are constructed either entirely of silk, or of two cuticles of 
a mined leaf fastened together and lined with silk; the form of 
the case is extremely varied, and is frequently of service to dis- 
tinguish closely-allied species. The very young larvee are in 
most instances miners till they have mined a sufficient portion of 
leaf to furnish them with a case; they then cut out their case, 
and attach it to the underside of the leaf, when they make a cir- 
cular hole in the lower cuticle of the leaf, and proceed to devour 
the parenchyma, gradually inserting a larger portion of their 
body into the leaf as they consume the parenchyma near the en- 
trance-hole, and have to reach further : thus they not unfrequently 
may be found quite out of the case, and wholly within the leaf ; 
this always happens when they are preparing to make a fresh Case ; 
then they eat in one continuous direction till they have excavated 
a sufficient portion, which they sew together and cut out, leaving 
the old case attached to the leaf. The mined places are frequently 
very conspicuous, being whitish or brown, and fhe round hole in 
the cuticle of the leaf sufficiently shows it to be the work of a 
Coleophora larva, even though the larva be not there. ‘The larvee 
of some of the species feed on seeds, attaching the case to the 
outside, and boring in. All the species appear to remain a long 
time in the larva state (some as much as nine months), and to be 
in that state during the winter months. 
VOL, ITT. 25 
