iSgi.] 



THE BRITISH NATURALIST. 



203 



leaves blotched and discoloured at this time by the larva of that little 

 gem, C. lahurnella, an easy species to rear by putting the mined leaves 

 in a flower pot, covering the top with leno and keeping in a cool place. 



From the middle of this month to the middle of the next, is the 

 best time to collect the larvae of the genus, Lithocolletis, a rather 

 numerous family of very beautiful small moths ; they are all leaf 

 miners, feeding between the upper and lower cuticle of leaves, causing 

 the leaves to curve towards the side the larva is at work on, and giving 

 them a sort of puckered appearance, they are quickly collected, the 

 mined leaves being so readil}' seen, and very easy to breed if when 

 arriving home the leaves are emptied out of the bag and just the 

 mined portion of the leaf cut out, with a piece of the leaf unmined all 

 round the mined portion, which is sufficient for the larva to feed upon, 

 and if all these mined portions are put into glass jars and tightly 

 corked down, they will keep perfectly fresh for two or three weeks, by 

 that time all will have changed to the pupa state. 



The larva of L. tenella, a local species, feeds in leaves of hornbeam 

 on the underside, and carpinicolella in the upperside, pomifoliella, in 

 leaves of hawthorn, and apple, upperside, spinicolella, in sloe leaves, 

 faginella in beach leaves, salicicolella in sallow leaves, viminetella in 

 osier leaves, curling the edge over, ulmifoliella in birch leaves, spinol- 

 ella in the leaves of the broad leaved sallow, quercifoliella in oak 

 leaves, viminiella in nut leaves, tristvigella in wych elm and schreber- 

 ella in common elm leaves, all on the underside, coryli in nut leaves, 

 upperside, and emherizepennella, mines the leaves of honeysuckle on 

 the underside, puckering up nearly the whole of the leaf, this species 

 does better if put into a flower pot and gauze or leno tied over the 

 top, keeping them cool, there are several other species, but as they 

 are best collected at the end of next month, had better be left till then, 

 but as many species of that numerous family the NeptimlcB are now 

 beginning to mine their serpentine galleries in the leaves of the 

 various trees on which they are to be found, there is plenty of occupa- 

 tion for any spare time one may have, after getting all the other larvae 

 mentioned above, among this last, but numerous family of brilliant 

 little atoms. 



Shepherdess Walk, City Road, N . 



