LITHOCOLLETIS. 265 
teriores elongata, postice acuminate ; posteriores lineari-lanceolate. 
Anteriores: yena subcostalis longe interrupta, cellula discoidalis 
venas duas in costam, unam in apicem, duas in marginem posticum 
emittit, subdorsalis simplex; posteriores: vena mediana bifida in 
utrumque marginem exit, subdorsalis simplex. 
Head rough, the face smooth. Antenne hardly shorter than the 
anterior wings, the basal joint moderately thickened, not expanded into 
an eye-cap. ‘Tongue of moderate length, naked. Labial palpi filiform, 
drooping. Wing with long cilia, the anterior elongate, posteriorly 
acuminate (yet appearing from the cilia of an elliptic form); the poste- 
rior linear-lanceolate. In the anterior wings the subcostal vein has a 
long interruption ; the discoidal cell sends two veins to the costa, one 
to the apex, and two to the hinder margin; the subdorsal vein is sim- 
ple. In the posterior wings the median vein is bifid, terminating on 
each margin; the subdorsal vein is simple. 
This is in all probability the most elegant genus of the Zimeina ; 
the graceful form of the perfect insects, the sharpness of the de- 
signs on the anterior wings, and the rich, frequently metallic 
lustre of the scales, impart to them a brilliancy which attracts the 
attention of the most superficial. Unfortunately the small size of 
these little gems, and the extreme similarity of many of them, 
have caused considerable ambiguity with regard to the descrip- 
tions of the earlier authors, so that our accurate knowledge of few 
of the species dates further back than 1846, when the appearance 
of the first volume of the ‘Linnea Entomologica,’ with Zeller’s 
monograph of this genus, caused a complete revolution in this 
department of Entomological science. Hlaborate as was that 
monograph, and immensely in advance of all that had previously 
been written on the subject, the impetus it gave to the study of 
this group has been so great, that it has already become antiquated 
and out of date. Von Nicelli, whose remarks on the habits of 
the Pomeranian species of this genus show that he is fully com- 
petent for such a task, has undertaken to write a monograph of 
the genus as it stands at the present time, and I believe his mo- 
nograph is now ready for publication. 
The perfect insects rest with their head slightly elevated (a 
single species (Schreberel/a) has a directly contrary habit, inclin- 
ing its head to the surface on which it rests at an angle of fully 
30°); the antenne are laid back generally under the wings; the 
flight is gentle, or with occasional jerks. The larvae have only 
fourteen feet, and mine in leaves, having no power to quit their 
mine, but changing therein to a pupa, and the empty pupa-skin 
may be found protruding through the skin of the leaf after the 
perfect insect has escaped. Some of the larvee mine beneath the 
: 2M 
