REVIEWS. 
13 
larva, of the mines of the larva in the leaves of the plants it feeds on, and, 
in most cases, of the cocoon also, it would be difficult to name any desi¬ 
deratum. A work so conducted well merits its title, “ The Natural History 
of the Tineina.” We do not know any group of insects which will have 
received so thorough and systematic an investigation, when the last volume 
shall have been issued, and the work pronounced complete. When t 
That is a question, to be sure; but we can now examine the first foot¬ 
print on the highway to knowledge, and, ex pede Herculem , we are not 
much afraid of that stalwart form fainting half-way. There is a deliberate 
earnestness about it which is the best augury of success. 
We have said that we do not mean to trouble our readers with many 
details, and we mean to keep our promise; but as but two genera are 
noticed in this first volume, we may be allowed to advert to one or two of 
the more striking characteristics of each. The genus Nepticula is said to 
contain the smallest known Lepidoptera, the “ prize dwarf” being N. 
microtheriella, or “little wild beastie,” the expanse of its wings being only 
1 j lines. The irony of blending any derivative of Ot/piov , however modi¬ 
fied, with the name of so innocuous a creature, is surely too bitter to be 
deserved! Poor little thing, it might be expected to die of fright if it 
could but hear the name with which it is dignified among men. It could 
be wished that nomenclature were occasionally a trifle less preposterous. 
However, the thing is done past mending, and Nepticula microtheriella is 
the name irrevocable of the smallest known Lepidopterous atom. 
The rough head and face, and folded palpi, and the shortness of the 
antennae, rarely exceeding half the length of the anterior wings, are the 
most prominent characteristics of the imago of this genus, as the absence 
of true legs, and the unusual number of pro-legs, devoid of the coronet of 
little hooks, is the most distinguishing feature of the larva; while the 
pupa is remarkable for having “ the parts of the future insect far more 
conspicuously displayed than is usual in the pupa of Lepidoptera. The 
Latin has—“ Partes insecti magis fere exaratae et separatae sunt quam in 
ullo alio Lepidop'terorum genere.” The imago is famous for its swiftness 
of foot. We are tempted to quote the Latin again, on account of a certain 
quaintness of expression, which is almost irresistible when associated with 
the idea of a microtherieila in a hurry: “ Mira velocitate exigua talis 
lestiola currit , licet brevibus pedibus praedita sit.” Fancy less than the 
twelfth of an inch’s length racing at express speed! 
Of the thirty-three known species of this genus, only two—N. subniti- 
della and assimilella—have not yet been found in Britain; and their 
arrangement in groups is the same as that given in Ins. Brit. Lep. Tin., 
