Hudson. — On some Micro-Lepidoptera. 189* 



Aet. XV, — On the Natural History of three Species of 



Micro-Lepidoptera. 



By G. V. Hudson. 



[Read before the Wellington Philosophical Society, 25th July, 1888.] 



Plate VIH. 



In most of the openings in the bush round "Welhngton may be 

 seen a conspicuous-looking shi'ub, with very dark-gi-een leaves 

 and purple flowers, which in the autumn are replaced by large 

 quantities of bright orange-colom-ed berries. Its popular 

 name is, I believe, the New Zealand night-shade, and it is 

 scientifically known as Solanuni aviculare. About January a 

 large number of these berries are full grown, although as yet 

 quite green and unripe. It is in these that we must look for 

 the larva of Sceliodes cordaUs, Dbld., one of our most beautiful 

 Pyrales, whose presence is readily detected by the large holes 

 which it drills in the sides of the berries. When extracted 

 from its burrow, this caterpillar is found to be very robust and 

 of a light-reddish colour, paler beneath (pi. viii., fig. 2). 

 Like most internal-feeding larvge it is very sluggish, and seems 

 quite helpless in the open. 



The infected berries can easily be placed in a caterpillar- 

 cage, and the enclosed larvae will emerge when they are full 

 grown and spin their small white cocoons on the sides of the 

 cage, in which they are transformed into pu^DEe, the moths 

 appearing about a month later. 



This species is very partial to light, and hence frequently 

 enters houses, but the best and most interesting method of 

 procuring it is to rear it from the berries. 



Our next species (Heliostibes atychioides, Meyr.) belongs 

 to the Tinidm, and its larva is found on the manuka {Lepto- 

 spermum), twisting up the terminal shoots and devouring the 

 leaves. It lives in a kind of tube which runs along one of the 

 twigs, and is constructed of a mixture of leaves and silk. In 

 colour this larva is dark brown, with the head and two first 

 segments corneous, the rest of the body being ornamented 

 with two black spots on the sides of each segment. The sub- 

 dorsal and lateral lines are whitish, the former with an inter- 

 rupted central black line (fig. 4). These caterpillars are rather 

 difficult to extract from their habitations, as they are ex- 

 tremely active, darting either backwards or forwards with 

 equal rapidity whichever end we happen to attack. When full 

 grown, the insect closes up both ends of its tube, and con- 

 structs a small cocoon within, where it changes into a pupa 

 from which the moth emerges in about three weeks' time, 

 when it may be seen in great abundance, flying round the 



