TKANSACTIONS 



OF THE 



NEW ZEALAND INSTITUTE, 



18 86. 



I.— Z OOLOGY. 



Art. I. — Monograph of New Zealand Noctuina. 

 By E. Meykick, B.A., F.E.S. 



{Read before the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury, 7th October, 1886.] 



I HAVE described the species of this group on the same method 

 as that employed in my paper on the Geometriua,-''- and the 

 remarks prefatory to that paper may be taken to apply generally 

 to this also. 



The species of Noctuina are commonly very dull coloured, 

 and very similar in marking. It is, therefore, not surprising that 

 those writers who classify by superficial appearance have found 

 themselves in a frightful state of confusion ; but the structural 

 classification of the group is really not difficult. As an example 

 of the sort of work produced, I will merely point out that fifteen 

 described species of New Zealand Noctuina, all truly referable 

 to the same genus, Mamestra, have been classed by these writers 

 in eighteen different genera, under five distinct families. As 

 the New Zealand fauna is very limited in character, it may be 

 useful to remark that genera such as Hadena, Xylina, etc., to 

 which several of these species have been referred, are really 

 existing genera, quite distinct in structure, and have not been 

 merged by me in Mamestra; I have simply corrected the 

 erroneous reference. 



The specimens described in this paper were mainly from the 

 collection of Mr. E. W. Fereday, to whom I am greatly indebted 

 for the loan of them. Mr. Fereday has devoted especial atten- 

 tion to the group, and his collection is a very valuable record of 

 labour ; but, as it was taken principally in a few limited locali- 

 ties, it is doubtless incomplete. I imagine that, as in the 

 Geometrina, new species will come mainly from the alpine 

 regions. During my last visit to the table-land of Mount 



* " Trans. N.Z. Inst.," vol. xvi., p. 49 ; xvii., p. 62 ; xviii., p. 184. 



