Part 48

"The expansion of the wings of the male is from 24-25 mm. (about 1 inch). Fore-wings moderate, termen sinuate; dark fuscous, faintly striated, more or less sprinkled with whitish; a curved blackish line near base, posteriorly obscurely whitish-margined; a curved, obscure whitish fascia at one-third, blackish margined and bisected by a blackish line; a well-defined black discal dot; a white fascia, partially mixed with fuscous, beyond middle, anteriorly strongly blackish-margined, posteriorly more obscurely, and bisected by a blackish line, somewhat irregular, moderately angulated in middle; {68}an obscure dentate yellowish or whitish subterminal line; an interrupted black terminal line. Hind-wings moderate, termen rounded; dark fuscous; two nearly straight lines before middle, faintly darker; a faint paler or sometimes whitish sinuate fascia beyond middle, margined and bisected with darker.

"Varies slightly in distinctness of pale markings.

"Mount Hutt and Lake Wakatipu (5,400 feet), on the open mountain sides, in December and January; twelve specimens."--(Meyrick.)

XANTHORHOE BULBULATA, Gn.

(Cidaria bulbulata, Gn., E. M. M. v. 94. Larentia bulbulata, Meyr., Trans. N. Z. Inst. xvi. 84.)

(Plate VIII., fig. 1.)

This species has occurred in the South Island at Kekerangu, Christchurch, Castle Hill, and Dunedin.

The expansion of the wings is barely 1 inch. The fore-wings are very pale brownish-ochreous; there is a brown area near the base; a moderately broad brown central band with a distinct projection near the middle; the termen is broadly shaded with brown, with a wavy paler line in the middle of the shading; there are often several oval paler marks in the middle of the central band, and pale brown spots and lines between the darker brown markings. The hind-wings are bright orange, with the cilia pale brown.

The perfect insect appears from September till March, and frequents open, grassy places, from the sea-level to elevations of from 2,000 to 3,000 feet.

Genus 12.--LYTHRIA, Hb.

"Face rough-haired or loosely scaled, antennæ in male bi-pectinated, apex sometimes simple. Palpi with long rough hairs. Thorax roughly hairy beneath. Fore-wings with areole simple. Hind-wings with vein 8 anastomosing with cell to beyond middle."--(Meyrick.) (Plate II., figs. 39 and 40, neuration of L. chrysopeda.)

We have two interesting little species in New Zealand. The genus also occurs in Europe, and probably elsewhere.

LYTHRIA CHRYSOPEDA, Meyr.

(Arcteuthes chrysopeda, Meyr., Trans. N. Z. Inst. xx. 48.)

(Plate VIII., fig. 33 , 34 .)

This bright-looking little species has been taken in the South Island at Mount Arthur.

The expansion of the wings is about ¾ inch. The fore-wings are very dark, glossy brown; there is a pale yellowish transverse line near the base, a broader, rather wavy orange-yellow line a little before the middle, another still broader at about two-thirds, and an indistinct fine line near the termen. The hind-wings are rich orange-brown, with three broad, wavy, dark brown transverse bands; the termen is narrowly margined with dark orange-brown. The female is generally rather paler than the male, very faintly marked specimens occasionally occurring.

The perfect insect appears in January and February. It frequents the tussock openings in the forest on the Tableland of Mount Arthur, at elevations of from 3,000 to 4,000 feet. In these situations it appears to be fairly abundant, flying actively in the hottest sunshine.

LYTHRIA EUCLIDIATA, Gn.

(Coremia euclidiata, Gn. x. 420. Coremia glyphicata, ib. 420. Fidonia catapyrrha, Butl., Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 1877, 392, pl. xliii. 2. Stratonice catapyrrha, Meyr., Trans. N. Z. Inst. xvi. 64. Stratonice euclidiata, ib. xvii. 63. Arctesthes euclidiata, ib. xviii. 184. Arcteuthes euclidiata, ib. xx. 47.)

(Plate VIII., fig. 35 .)

This pretty little species has occurred in the South Island at Lake Rotoiti near Nelson, Lake Guyon, Otira Gorge, Dunedin, and Mount Linton near Invercargill.

{69}The expansion of the wings is ¾ inch. The fore-wings are dark greyish-brown speckled with black and white; there is a curved black transverse line near the base, followed by a white line, then two black lines close together followed by another white line, then a broad black line followed by a pale central band containing a well-marked central dot, beyond this there are two angulated black lines, and a very conspicuous white line; there is a broad black shading on the termen, traversed by a rather obscure fine white line. The hind-wings are rather narrow, yellowish-orange speckled with black near the base, there is a strongly angulated black line near the middle, and an obscure blackish band near the termen. On the under side the fore-wings are yellow, with two black transverse bands from the costa near the termen and a red mark near the apex; the hind-wings are streaked with white and yellow, and broadly bordered with red on the costa and termen; there are two very broad black transverse bands. The female is paler than the male, with the dark markings rather narrower.

The perfect insect appears in February and March, and frequents open, sunny places, at elevations of from 1,000 to 2,000 feet above the sea-level.

Genus 13.--DASYURIS, Gn.

"Face rough-haired or with projecting scales. Palpi moderate, porrected, with long dense rough hairs. Antennæ in male shortly ciliated. Thorax and coxæ densely hairy beneath. Posterior tibiæ with all spurs present. Fore-wings with areole double. Hind-wings with vein 8 anastomosing with cell from near base to beyond middle."--(Meyrick.) (Plate II., fig. 42, neuration of fore-wing. Hind-wing as in Xanthorhoe.)

Of this genus we have four species in New Zealand.

DASYURIS ENYSII, Butl.