i6o 



THE BRITISH NATURALIST. 



[August 



life-history is, I believe, unknown. I have heard it suggested that the 

 imago hybernates and lays its eggs in the spring, but V\'hether this be 

 so or whether the eggs are laid in the autumn is open to doubt. 

 Nothing appears to be known of the time when the larva hatches but 

 small larvae may be found from June onwards. 



MimcBseoptilus pterodactyla , Linn. — This common species is very 

 widely distributed, occurring probably in all suitable localities in 

 Britain, as it is found in every countr)^ in Europe except in the Polar 

 region. 



Synonymy — Ptevodactyla, Linn. '"Faun. Suec", No. 1456; 

 Wallgn. "Fjaderm.," p. 18. Fiisciis, Retz "Gen. and Sp. Degeerii," 

 35, Zell, " Isis," 1841, 841; "Linn. Ent. Zeit.," VI., 371 ; Tgstr. 

 " Bidr." 155; H. S., V. p. 375; Frey 413. Ptilodactyla, Hb. 16; Tr. 

 IX., 2, 244 ; Dup. XL 314, 3 ; Zell. " Isis," 1839, 277. Fuscodactylus 

 H aw. " Lep. Brit.", 476 I Stph. " 111.,' IV., 37^* Fusciis Sta. 

 "Man.," II., 442. Although the synonymy of this species has been 

 somewhat confused it appears to have been due to the application of 

 the Linnaean name pterodnctyla by the early authors to PteropJionis 

 monodaciyla. The species itself, through so very common, varies but . 

 little and there is never any difficulty or doubt about its determin- 

 ation. Fuscus and fuscodactyla are commonly used now in Britain for 

 this species. Mr. Barrett says : — " Much confusion seems to have 

 resulted from the fact that our old and well-known M. Retz., 

 fuscodactylus, HaAv. (feeding on buds of Veronica cJiamcsdrys is really 

 pterodactyl us, L., and that the species which stood in our lists and 

 books as ptevodactyliis , (the Coiivolvidus feeder) is monodactylus, L. This 

 last name is wonderfully suitable to this species, which, when at rest, 

 is a conspicuous object, with its fore and hind wings rolled up into 

 " one finger " pointing each way like a sign post " (" Entomologist's 

 Monthly Magazine," Vol. XVIII., p. 180). 



Imago — This species has the anterior wings divided into two lobes 

 with the apex rather pointed ; they are of a reddish-ochreous or 

 brownish -colour, with the costa browmer and the inner margin more 

 ochreous, with a small dark brown spot at the end of the fissure and a 

 series of tiny dots running from the base to the middle of the wing. 

 The hind wings, composed of three plumules, dark brown in colour 

 and very glossy. The species is very uniform in colour and rarely 

 varies. Stainton's diagnosis is: — "P. fuscus, 10"' — 11^"'. F.-w. 

 brownish, darker towards the costa, more ochreous towards the inner 

 margin ; before the hssure is a small dark blotch. In tlie hind-wings, 

 the two first featliers are broader and the third is shorter than in P. 

 pterodactylus (' monodactyla J . VI. — ^'II." (" ^lanual," II., p. 442), 

 whilst the original Lmnaean description is : — " Alucita pderodactyln 

 alls patentibus fissis testaceis puncto fusco." " Alae- superiores 



