Insects. 



8361 



the white eye-caps are larger ; the cervical tuft dark ; all the legs 

 blackish gray ; the anterior wings narrow, more of a pure golden, 

 inclining somewhat to olive-green, beyond the fascia bright violet or 

 violet-blue; the fascia is likewise placed very posteriorly, is narrow 

 above, distinctly margined, straight and vertical, of silvery white 

 colour, sometimes with a very faint golden tinge ; the entire surface 

 is smooth, as though polished, and very glossy. The cilia, as also 

 the posterior wings and their cilia, are more of a blackish gray. I 

 have found the larva of N. gratiosella only on whitethorn hedges, but 

 those of the other whitethorn Nepticulae (N. regiella and N. atri- 

 collis) only in shady places in woods. 



Group IV. 



9. N. PRETIOSA. 



Capillis ochraceis, antennarum conchula albida ; alis anterioribus 

 atro-violaceis, fascia pone basin dilute aurea, fascia post medium 

 argentea nitida. Exp. al. 3 — 3j lin. 



Distinguished by its size and beauty. The frontal tuft is brownish 

 ochreous-yellow. The cervical tuft dark ; the eye-caps silvery yel- 

 lowish ; the antennae long; the legs blackish gray; the middle tibiae 

 with a faint pale ring. The anterior wings are deep violet-blue, 

 almost black ; near the base is a pale golden fascia, not sharply mar- 

 gined, whereas the base itself is dark for a slight distance ; beyond 

 the middle is a second fascia, distinctly margined, moderately broad, 

 vertical, very shining, and silvery with a golden gloss ; the cilia are 

 blackish brown, with their tips blackish gray, shot with bluish. The 

 posterior wings and their cilia are blackish gray. 



N. aeneofasciella differs in its markings in the fact that the metallic 

 tint of the basal half of the anterior wings has a much greater extent, 

 so that the dark colour beyond it is confined to a narrow fascia in the 

 middle, whereas in N. pretiosa it is not the anterior fascia, but the 

 dark space between it and the posterior fascia, which is much broader 

 than the latter. 



Herr Glitz found the larva near Hanover in the old leaves of Geum 

 urbanum at the end of March and beginning of April. The mine is 

 long and narrow, deeply and irregularly tortuous ; the excrement forms 

 a loose greenish stripe and leaves the edges free. The cocoon is oval, 

 flat and slightly arched in the middle ; its colour is brownish green. 

 The imago appears at the end of April. 



VOL. XXI. H 



