8356 



Insects. 



3. N. SAMIATELLA, H.-S. {Zll.) 



Capillis atris, penicillis et antennarum conchula albis ; alis anteri- 

 oribus subnitidis, virescenti-ameis, apice violaceis, ciliis griseis. 

 Exp. al. 2i — 2| lin. 



Zeller, Linn. Ent. iii. 303, 1 ($). Herrich-Schcefer, v. 348, 1087, 

 fig. 835. 



4. N. ATRICAPITELLA, Hw. 



Capillis cum penicillis atris, an term arum conclmla alba ; alis ante- 

 rioribus subnitidis, virescenti-aeneis, ciliis nigro-griseis. Exp. 

 al. 2j— 2j lin. 



Stainton, List of the spec, of Br. Anim. xvi. 166 ; Ins. Brit. 297; 

 Man. ii. 431. Herrich-Schaffer, v. 397, 1086. Frey, Tin. 

 370, 1. Linn. Ent. xi. 368, 1. 



Frey refers Herrich-Schasffer's N. samiatella to N. atricapitella, Stt., 

 with the remark that one of Stainton's original specimens of N. atricapi- 

 tella, communicated to him by Herrich-Scha^ffer, agreed precisely with a 

 number of Frey's bred specimens, which Herrich-Schsefferbad pronoun- 

 ced to be N. samiatella. Whether some error has here occurred in any 

 way I will leave undecided, but at any rate amongst the black-headed oak 

 Nepticulas which come nearest to N. ruficapitella I certainly find two 

 species to which the differential characters assigned by Herrich- 

 Schseffer apply ; only with regard to size I have observed no per- 

 ceptible difference, since all specimens measure 2j lines, or rather 

 more or less, yet on the whole N. samiatella appears to be a trifle 

 larger, and to have the wings rather narrower, whereas in N. atricapitella 

 the anterior wings are broader and shorter. The ground colour of 

 the anterior wings is in both species of a shining greenish bronze, but 

 more greenish in N. atricapitella, more bronzy and more shining in N. 

 samiatella ; the tips of the scales are more or less violet-blue, espe- 

 cially towards the apex of the wing, often also along the costa, but more 

 so in N. atricapitella, where, especially in the female, the costa and 

 apex of the wing are often entirely blue, and sometimes the entire 

 wing has a bluish gloss. The cilia are blue-black ; their apical half, 

 from the apex of the wing to the anal angle, is pale gray, in N. samia- 

 tella perhaps a little paler; at the inner margin they are blackish 

 gray, and in the female of N. atricapitella they extend nearly to the 

 base of the wing, without perceptibly decreasing in length, and in set 

 specimens they distinctly lie over the posterior wings. These latter 

 are brownish gray in N. samiatella, bluish black in N. atricapitella, 



