148 Transactions. — Zoology. 



for some time, formed cocoons about the 8th May. These 

 they constructed in several ways ; some simply bound two 

 or three leaves together with silk, others rolled up a leaf 

 like a roll of carpet, either closing both ends or leaving thern 

 open. 



The pupa averages from \ in. to fin. in length, and the 

 specimens in my possession are of a dull-brown colour, with 

 the posterior end of a darker brown. Mr. Hudson, in his- 

 book, " New Zealand Moths and Butterflies," page 81, de- 

 scribes the specimens under his observation as being of a 

 greenish-brown colour ; but this variation may be accounted 

 for by the fact that pupae often take the same colour with 

 which they are surrounded. 



After remaining in the pupa stage for three weeks or a 

 month, the pupae reared by me emerged as perfect insects 

 between the 10th and the 15th June,* though the room in 

 which they were kept was often lower in temperature than 

 the air outside. 



The larvae no doubt do much harm to the matipo fences,, 

 as they devour the leaves with great voracity, often leaving 

 only the petioles on the branch, thus giving the hedge a thin 

 or dead appearance on the top. 



Owing to its peculiar colouring the larva has a striking 

 resemblance (no doubt a protective one) to a leaf of the matipo 

 folded inwards towards the midrib. It holds on to the branch 

 by the two. abdominal legs, claspers, and the tail-like flap. 

 These enable the larva to grip very tightly, and, as the 

 abdominal legs and claspers are more or less of the same 

 colour as the stem of the matipo, at a distance the caterpillar 

 appears to be an outgrowth of the tree. Then, with the mid- 

 dorsal line acting as a midrib and the diagonal lines as veins, 

 its likeness to a leaf is almost complete. The effect is 

 heightened by the larva often standing out from the branch 

 at the same angle as a leaf. In this position it will remain 

 for some minutes, so that it is almost unrecognisable in the 

 green foliage from a folded leaf. 



EXPLANATION OF PLATE VI. 



Fig. I. Full-grown larva (enlarged) : a, clasper ; b, tail-like projection 



(the peculiar markings tf the body are not shown). 

 Fig. II. Position of the clasping organs when clasping a branch. 

 Fig. III. Pupa (enlarged). 

 Fig. IV. Larvse on a matipo-branch ; natural size. 



* This shows that there is an irregularity in the time which they 

 emerge. Mr. Hudson says, " The moth first appears about the end of 

 October, and is met with until the middle of March " ( " New Zealand 

 Moths and Butterflies," p. 81). 



