150 
SPOLIA ZEYLAN1CA. 
THE PLUME-MOTHS OF CEYLON. 
Part ii. —The Orneodids. 
By T. Bainbrigge Fletcher, R.N., F.E.S.. F.Z.S. 
(With 2 Plates and 8 Figures.) 
Introductory. 
rpHE Orneodidae, easily recognized and sufficiently characterized 
-L by the fact that both wings are cleft into six or more segments, 
each ciliated on both sides, form an isolated group of Lepidoptera, 
few in numbers and usually small in size, which may be considered 
as nearly allied to the Pyralidae with some affinities to the Tineidae. 
The point to be borne in mind is that the Orneodidae and Ptero- 
phoridae, although both popularly included under the name of 
“ Plume-moths,” do not appear to be at all closely allied to one 
another. 
The normal state of affairs in this group is a fission of each wing 
into six segments, but in Ceylon we find the endemic genus Tris- 
ccedecia with seven segments in the hindwing and six in the fore wing, 
this unusual amount of fission forming a parallel to the analogous 
case of Heptaloba amongst the Pterophoridae. It is worthy of note, 
however, that the fissures in Trisccedecia do not extend more than 
half way into the wing, whilst in Orneodes they reach practically to the 
base itself ; this appears to indicate a very early divergence from the 
primitive form, which we may imagine as having had shallow clefts, 
or more anciently mere scallopings, in the margin of each wing 
between the terminations of the nervures. 
The Orneodid larva and pupa are extraordinarily different from 
those of the Pterophoridae, and very closely resemble the forms 
found in the Tineidae. The larvae of some, but not all, of the species 
are peculiar in their habit of burrowing within the flower-stalks, 
stems, or young shoots of the food plants, in which their presence 
gives rise to gall-like excrescences. 
Classification. 
Hitherto four genera have been recognized in this group— Orneodes 
Pcelia, Microschismus , and Trisccedecia —of which the first and last 
only have been found in Ceylon, Pcelia being peculiar to South 
America and Microschismus to South Africa. Microschismus includes 
two species, Pcelia and Trisccedecia are mono typical, but Orneodes 
at present consists of some forty species, which have been recorded 
from every part of the world. The constituent species of this 
