54 



THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



[March 



amount of warm weather on the heaths of Surrey, than on the chalk- 

 downs of Sussex. My opinion is that the nature of certain soils resists 

 the absorption of heat, and that is what causes the darker varieties. 



Lord Walsingham goes on to say " the underside of butterflies is 

 "often darker, but when at rest the under, not the upper side, is ex- 

 " posed and is the means of conveying to the body the necessary heat." 

 How can this be ? In my experience butterflies rest, and close their 

 wings in dark and cloudy weather. In hot and brilliant sunshine they 

 are flying hither and thither, and when they do settle on a flower, they 

 open and close their wings rapidly. 



The GeometridcB again tell against his arguments for they frequent 

 shade rather than sunshine. We do not however differ about the re- 

 sult, but the cause. 



Glanvilles Wootton, 

 Feb. 4th, 1890. 



LITHOCOLLETIS INSIGNITELLA, Z. 



AN UNRECORDED BRITISH INSECT, 

 By JOHN E. ROBSON. 



For nearly thirty years Lithocolletis insignitella has been recog- 

 nised as a British insect. Having undertaken to prepare a list of the 

 Lepidoptera of Durham and Northumberland, for the transactions of 

 the Tyneside Naturalist's Field Club, I desired to find the earliest 

 record of its occurrence. To my great surprise I discovered that not 

 only had there been no published account of it on its admission to our 

 lists, but that there was not a single printed record that the insect had 

 ever been met with in Britain. In the Annual for 1862, p. 139, in 

 " Observations on British and Continental Tineina," after a notice of 

 the species having been found at Mombach, mining a leaf of Ononis 

 spinosa, this note was added. 



"I believe Mr. Allis has British specimens of this insect ; its habit - 

 " ual food is clover." 



A reference to the collection of Mr. Allis, now in York museum 

 shewed that there are 13 specimens of the insect there, above a written 

 name label, but no ticket to the specimens by which their history 

 could be traced. Enquiry was then made for his diary, and eventually 

 his brother in law Mr. Wm. Pumphrey, of Bath, found, not a diary, but 

 catalogue of the collection. In this the 13 specimens are duly entered, 



