INTRODUCTION clxi 



and Vallesia, and I have seen the caterpillars numerous on what I was told was a 

 species of Euphorbia. This moth appears to frequent the lower borders of the forests 

 and is sometimes disturbed from amongst ferns, where it flies wildly and rapidly and is 

 generally difficult to capture. At night it is attracted by light. Margarofiia cyano- 

 michla is a widely distributed species throughout the islands, especially in the wetter 

 forest regions. It exhibits a good deal of variation, probably in part according to the 

 station it inhabits. It comes freely to light and is rarely met with otherwise. 



Mestolobes and Orlhomecyna are extensive endemic genera, with 30 species in the 

 former, and 14 in the latter already known, and the two monotypic endemic genera 

 Protaulacistis and Pro77iylaea are offshoots of these. Some of the species of Mestolobes 

 (e.g. M. xauthoscia, mimisctda, etc.) are frequent visitors to flowers, flying freely in the 

 sunshine and also at night, while others appear to be entirely nocturnal, and come very 

 freely to light in company with the former. Some may be seen in numbers flying 

 over or settling on ferns in shady places. Most of the species are entirely confined to 

 mountain forests, but M. minuscnla is ubiquitous, occurring near the sea-shore even on 

 the leeward side of the islands, and thence upwards through the forest-belt. Not 

 infrequently a small swarm will buzz around and even settle upon the person of the 

 collector. In the forests it is usual to find several species in company, and individuals 

 of two or three may be sometimes noticed on a single flower of the Ohia tree. The 

 species that have been examined in numbers are generally very variable in coloration. 



In general the habits of Orthomecyna are like those of Mestolobes, but in a number 

 of species there is a tendency to fly low and settle on the ground or near it. These 

 low-flying species are generally of obscure coloration, compared with the more arboreal 

 forms. Some visit flowers of forest trees and some come freely to light. O. epicausta, 

 exigua, and viesoc/iasma are excessively numerous in certain localities at proper seasons. 

 Some of these, like some of the Mestolobes, can be dislodged in extraordinary numbers 

 from bushy trees, in which they are resting during the daytime. Nearly all the species 

 are true forest insects, though they are sometimes found in the open country below or 

 above the forest-belt. None seem to occur on the lowlands, at least not on the leeward 

 side of the islands. Considered generally they do not seem to show any particular 

 liking for the excessively wet parts of the forests, which are frequented by many species 

 of Mestolobes. Like the latter, some are extremely variable in markings. 



More than sixty species of Scoparia are already known, and no doubt many more 

 remain to be discovered. They occur from the lowlands on the windward side to an 

 elevation far above the forest-line on both sides of the highest mountains, but, except 

 accidentally, are not found on thfe lowlands of the leeward sides. They are most 

 numerously represented in the true forest-belt. As in other countries, they rest in the 

 daytime on the trunks of trees and on rocks, but are easily disturbed, as one walks 

 along. Some settle freely on the ground, in open parts of the forest, where there is 

 a great growth of lichens amongst low-growing plants, such as Vaccinium, Cyathodes, 



F. H. I. X 



