The YOtmC HATtfBAUST: 



A Monthly Magazine of Natural History. 



Part 80. AUGUST, 1886. Vol. 7. 



SIX MONTHS' WORK AMONG THE 

 TORTRICES AND TINEITES. 



By ALBERT H. WATERS, B.A., F.S.Sc, F.P.N.S., &c. 



AUGUST. 



I ALWAYS obtain a goodly number of Tortrices and Tineites in August. 

 Teras contaminana I find in great plenty by the hedges round Cam- 

 bridge, from now up to October. I notice that it is a very variable moth, 

 but I have failed hitherto in the effort to assign any reasons for its extreme 

 mutability. Some of the specimens I see are quite a bright straw colour, 

 with brownish markings, while others are ochreous grey. Some have the 

 central fascia uniting with the costal spot in such a manner as to form a 

 distinct Y shaped mark, in others the markings take the form of a shapeless 

 black cloud on the inner margin ; the general ground colour of the wings 

 being reddish ochreous. In some specimens the markings are reddish-brown, 

 forming a series of reticulations on a reddish ochreous ground. 



A tortrix which is fairly common in August is the little Phoxopteryx Inn- 

 dana. The forewings have a rich chocolate coloured patch on the inner 

 margin, extending from the base to more than half the length of the wing, 

 the hind margin is pale reddish-brown. There is an angulated bluish line 

 beyond the middle of the wing, and this is preceded by a chocolate coloured 

 streak extending from the costal margin. The costal margin from the base 

 to the middle is white, and the interval between the chocolate coloured patch 

 and the bluish and chocolate-brown streak is also white. The larva feeds on 

 bush vetch (Vicia smpium), and meadow vetchling (Latyrus pratensis.) 

 Another member of the same genus is abundant on the chalk in the South of 

 England. This is Phoxopteryx comptana. It is a moth of about the same 

 size, viz, five lines and a half, as P. lundana, Like that species it has a dark 



