176 Transactions. — Zoology. 



basal half and a subapical ring suffusedly irrorated with black, 

 terminal joint irrorated with dark fuscous. Antennae whitish- 

 ochreous, ringed with dark fuscous. Abdomen grey-whitish, 

 or gi'ey. Legs dark grey, suffusedly ringed with w^hitish. 

 Forevv'ings lanceolate ; vein 5 separate, 6 present ; brownish- 

 ochreous, sometimes more or less sprinkled with dark fuscous ; 

 a black dot on base of costa, sometimes obsolete, a second on 

 costa near base, a third in disc beneath second, a fourth on 

 base of inner margin, often obsolete, a fifth in disc before 

 middle, a sixth on fold rather obliquely beyond fifth, and a 

 seventh in disc at f ; generally two small indistinct whitish- 

 ochreous spots on costa and inner margin opposite seventh dot : 

 cilia light grey, darker round apex. Hindwings with veins 6 

 and 7 from a point ; grey ; cilia light-grey. 



Taranaki, Palmerston, Napier, and Masterton ; from 

 January to March, in some places exceedingly plentiful, but 

 apparently not found everywhere. Around Taranaki I found 

 it swarming in grassy places ; it has quite the habits of an 

 Elachista, and is probably a grass-feeder. It is very widely- 

 distributed through Australia from east to w-est, but there also 

 is local, and abundant in some places only. 



Elachista, Stt. 



Head smooth ; ocelli present ; tongue developed. Antennae 

 f , in male simple, filiform or serrulate, basal joint moderate, 

 with or without pecten. Labial palpi long, recurved, slender, 

 smooth-scaled, terminal joint shorter than second, acute. 

 Maxillary palpi obsolete. Posterior tibiae clothed with long 

 hairs above and beneath. Forewings with vein 1 simple, 2 

 from angle of cell, 4 sometimes absent, 5 absent, 6 out of 7, 7 

 to costa, 8 out of 7 or absent, 9 approximated to or from point 

 with or out of 7, 11 from middle. Hindwings about i, narrow 

 lanceolate, cilia 3 to 5 ; vein 4 sometimes absent, 5 absent, 

 cell sometimes open below^ 6, 6 and 7 stalked. 



A genus of considerable extent, and probably cosmopolitan, 

 but from the obscurity of the species hitherto not much noticed 

 outside Em-ope. Besides the seven New Zealand species, I 

 have about fifteen Australian. All known larvae of the genus 

 mine in leaves of grasses or sedges. Wocke separates the 

 species in which vein 4 of both wings is absent (it appears to 

 change in both wings simultaneously) as a distinct genus, 

 under the name PceciloiAilia ; but, after careful consideration, 

 this appears to me unnecessary : there is no other difference 

 whatever, and, as I have remarked above, in this family the 

 disappearance of a vein is not of great importance, and the 

 neuration of many of its genera is liable to vary to that extent. 

 I have therefore retained all in one genus, but used the charac- 

 ter to separate it into sections. 



