1889] 



THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



list, to the place here indicated. There is no doubt that they are, 

 among the Crambida, in a more natural position, and that Dr. Jordan 

 was quite right in suggesting their removal from the anomalous 

 position they had always held in all previous systems of classification, 

 and now that their larvae are better known, I think very few lepidop- 

 terists would be found who believe the affinities of the group to be in 

 any way connected with the Tineina. To me their affinities seem 

 more decidedly with the Pyralida, an opinion which was shared by my 

 friend Mr. Coverdale. Certain it is that the position suggested by 

 Dr. Jordan, and carried out in the " Entomologist" list, is better than 

 the previous lack of one. 



The larvae are generally hairy, so also are some of the pupae ; 

 some of the species simply attach themselves by the anal segment to 

 pupate, others make a loose cocoon ; one species, gonodactyla ( trigono- 

 dactylus), sometimes makes a cocoon, at other times it is simply sus- 

 pended. 



With regard to the structure of the species of this group, one 

 species, Agdistis bennettii, has all four wings uncleft, as also has Chryso- 

 covys festaliella, but the others have the anterior wings more or less 

 cleft, dividing the wing more or less deeply into two lobes ; while the 

 posterior wings are made up of three distinct plumules or feathers. 

 So that in considering the structure we have the upper and lower 

 lobes in the anterior wings, and the first, second, and third plumules 

 of the posterior wings. The solitary British species of the genus 

 Alucita has its anterior and posterior wings each divided into six 

 plumules or feathers, and when well set, appears to me one of the 

 most striking species in the British fauna. 



All our species are more or less variable, and not only is this so, but 

 many of the species are very closely allied ; with regard, however, to 

 variation, the most remarkable cases of variation occur with the 

 larvae, and ignorance of this has apparently led to a great deal of 

 confusion in some of the species. I worked out the different phases 

 of variation of one species (gonodactyla) last summer, and the results, 

 published in the " Entomologist's Monthly Magazine," Vol. XXV., 

 pp. 105-107, are very striking. Other species also vary very con- 

 siderably, and descriptions of individual larvae appear to me almost 

 worthless, unless giving general characters of the different forms which 

 occur ; the descriptions ofthe larvae of the species of this group should 

 be made from a considerable number for comparison. The pupae 

 also vary much both in ground colour and markings. The markings 

 of larvae and pupae consist essentially of darker dorsal and sub-dorsal 



