NOTES ON ZELOTYPIA STACYI, AND AN ACCOUNT 



OF A VARIETY. 



By a. Sidney Ollipf, F.E.S., 

 Assistant Zoologist, Australian Museum, 



The magnificent Hepialid which the late Mr. A. W. Scott 

 described under the name Zelotypia Stacyi from imperfect speci- 

 mens found at the Manning River and in the neighbourhood of 

 Newcastle, has been obtained in some numbers during the last 

 few years by the Newcastle miners. As the insect is rarely found 

 in the perfect or imago condition the larva has to be sought for 

 and reared, a matter of no little difficulty as it lives, like those of 

 the allied genus Charagia, in cylindrical burrows which it makes 

 in the interior of the stems or branches of trees, sometimes near 

 the surface of the ground and sometimes at a height of fifty or a 

 hundred feet. By searching for these burrows and i-earing the 

 larvse or pupfe when found, a considerable number of specimens 

 have been obtained by the miners, but I am informed that the 

 supply is by no means equal to the demand. (1) Sometime ago Mr. 

 R. Thornton, who has reared a number of the lignivorous lepidop- 

 tera, ti-ansmitted to the Australian Museum the larva and pupa of 

 this species preserved in alcohol, and subsequently he brought for 

 my inspection a male Zelotypia which he thought might prove to 



(1) Since this article was written I have paid a visit to the mining district 

 in the neighbourhood of Newcastle and have made enquiries as to the time 

 of year when the perfect insect makes its appearance. I am told that when 

 a fully grown larva or pupa is found its precise position is carefully noted, 

 and the locality revisited in December or early in January according to the 

 season. The portion of the limb or sapling containing the animal is then 

 cut and brought home, the end being placed in damp sand to prevent 

 shrinking. The moth usually makes it appearance in February and March. 



