Part 62

This species is very abundant in the neighbourhood of Wellington. It has also been taken at Taranaki, Christchurch, Dunedin, Invercargill and Stewart Island, and is probably common and generally distributed throughout the country.

The expansion of the wings is about 1½ inches. All the wings of the male are yellowish-brown; there is a faint transverse line near the base, and a conspicuous darker transverse line running from a little before the apex of the fore-wing to the middle of the dorsum of the hind-wing; there is also a dark spot in the centre of the fore-wing, often containing two white dots. In the female, all the wings are slate-coloured; the transverse lines are very faintly indicated, and the central dot of the fore-wing is reddish-brown. The apex of the fore-wing in each sex is conspicuously hooked, and the termen is bowed and sometimes has a very slight angle in the middle.

Both sexes of this insect are very variable. In the male, the ground colour ranges from dingy-brown to bright orange-brown; the transverse lines differ much in intensity, and in some specimens the central area of the wings enclosed by them is much darker than either the basal or the marginal portions; occasionally there is a series of black markings between the outer transverse line and the termen of the fore-wings, whilst the transverse line itself is frequently edged with a band of paler {92}colouring. The female also varies in the ground colour and in the intensity of the transverse lines, which are sometimes marked by a few black dots.

The larva, according to Mr. Purdie, is light grey, cylindrical, about 5/8 inch in length. It may be beaten in February from an undergrowth of Carpodetus and Aristotelia.

The perfect insect appears from November till March. It frequents dense forest and is often very abundant. The colouring of the upper and under surfaces of its wings, and the shape of the wings are both very protective, giving the moth an exact resemblance to a dead leaf. When disturbed, the insect adds to this deception by keeping its wings quite motionless and rigidly extended, and allowing itself to fall through the air like a leaf. The resemblance in this case to the inanimate object is very perfect, and has no doubt enabled the moth to escape from many enemies. It is, in fact, an extremely interesting example of the simultaneous development of structure and instinct in a useful direction, through the agency of natural selection.

This species is much attracted both by light and by blossoms.

Genus 7.--AZELINA, Gn.

"Face with some projecting hairs. Palpi rather long, obliquely ascending, roughly scaled, attenuated. Antennæ in male thick, simple. Fore-wings with vein 6 from below 9, 7 from below angle of areole, 10 very shortly touching 9, 11 separate, 12 free. Hind-wings normal.

A genus of some extent, specially characteristic of South America. Guenée made a separate genus (Polygonia) of the New Zealand species, but without any point of distinction."--(Meyrick.) (Plate II., figs. 54 and 55, neuration of Azelina gallaria.)

We have three species in New Zealand.

AZELINA GALLARIA, Walk.

(Selenia gallaria, Walk. 185, Butl., Cat., pl. iii. 6, 7. Euchlaena (?) palthidata, Feld. cxxxii. 21, 22. Stratocleis gallaria, Meyr., Trans. N. Z. Inst. xvi. 105; Azelina gallaria, xx. 62.)

(Plate X., figs. 13 to 20 varieties, 21 to 23 ditto.)

This species is very common in the neighbourhood of Wellington. It has also occurred at Palmerston North, Makotuku, Christchurch, Dunedin and Stewart Island.

The expansion of the wings is 1¼ inches. The fore-wings of the male vary from pale yellowish-brown to bright orange-brown, or reddish-brown; there is a wavy transverse line near the base, often obsolete except on the costa; another wavy transverse line beyond the middle, also frequently obsolete except on the costa; followed by a very conspicuous straight line, often double, running obliquely from a little before the apex to the dorsum; outside this line, near the tornus, there are, in most specimens, two black spots or one large rust-red spot; the termen has two projections near the apex, inside which there is usually a darker blotch. The hind-wings are as variable in colour as the fore-wings; there is one wavy line near the base, followed by an almost straight line, which is a continuation of the straight line of the fore-wing; beyond this line the ground colour is generally much darker; the termen itself has no projections. The female has broader wings and a shorter body than the male; the ground colour and markings are similar to those of the male, but are usually more sombre, and the termen of both fore- and hind-wings is furnished with a number of prominent projections. The under side of the wings in both sexes is beautifully marbled with yellow and reddish-brown, and several of the markings of the upper surface are faintly indicated.

This species, as will be seen from the foregoing, is so extremely variable that a more detailed description would be useless, especially as the straight, oblique, transverse lines of both fore- and hind-wings will at once distinguish it from the two other members of the genus.

{93}The perfect insect appears from November till March. It frequents dense forest, and is most abundant at the flowers of the white rata in the evening. Earlier in the year, before the rata blooms, it may sometimes be taken at sugar.

AZELINA OPHIOPA, Meyr.

(Gonophylla ophiopa, Meyr., Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond. 1897, 387.)

(Plate X., fig. 26 , 27 variety, 28 .)

This species has occurred occasionally in the neighbourhood of Wellington, but has not yet been recorded from any other locality.

The expansion of the wings is 1½ inches. The fore-wings of the male are pale orange-brown; there is a doubly toothed shaded transverse line near the base, the teeth being marked with two black spots; a conspicuous wavy transverse line runs from the apex to the dorsum, and is also marked with several black dots; the space between the two transverse lines is paler than the rest of the wing; there is a row of small black dots on the termen, and the termen itself has two small projections. The hind-wings are yellowish at the base, becoming orange beyond the middle; there is a faint brownish transverse line near the base, and a conspicuous wavy transverse line at the middle, marked by a series of black dots; this central transverse line divides the yellowish ground colour of the basal area, from the orange ground colour of the rest of the wing. The female is larger and duller than the male; the fore-wings are yellowish drab, with the outer transverse line dull red; there is a series of minute black dots on the termen; the hind-wings are dull yellow, with a wavy central transverse line.

The only variety of this species which has come under my observation is a male. In this specimen all the wings are pale yellowish-brown, with very broad black transverse lines. (See Plate X., fig. 27.)

This insect is evidently closely allied to Azelina fortinata. It may, however, be distinguished from that species by the smaller projections on the termen of the fore- and hind-wings, and the dotted transverse lines of the male.

The perfect insect appears from January till April. It is met with much later in the season than either of the two other species of Azelina. It frequents forest, and may be found on the blossoms of the white rata, but is, I think, the rarest of the genus.

AZELINA FORTINATA, Gn.

(Polygonia fortinata, Gn., E. M. M. v. 41. Caustoloma (?) ziczac, Feld. cxxxii. 4. Azelina fortinata, Trans. N. Z. Inst. xvi. 106.)

(Plate X., fig. 24 , 25 .)