Buller. — On some Bare Species of Lepidoptera. 333 



Achaea melicerte, Meyr. 



The first and, I believe, the only record of this moth in New 

 Zealand appears in the Transactions of the Philosophical Society 

 in 1876,* in an article contributed by the late Mr. Fereday. He 

 states that a specimen was taken at Wellington by Mr. Liardet, 

 and he describes and figures it as Catocala traversi. In his paper 

 he mentions that one had been taken at Lyttelton two years 

 previously, and that he understood it to be a common moth 

 amongst the gum-trees in Australia. 



Mr. Hudson tells me that, as far as he knows, this is the only 

 record of its appearance, and until recently these have been the 

 only two specimens known. (Mr. Meyrick has described it in the 

 Transactions"}" as Achcea melicerte, but does not mention Catocala 

 traversi as a synonym. From his description, however, it seems 

 clear they are one and the same, and I have adopted Mr. Mey- 

 rick's nomenclature.) 



It is now interesting to note that it has occurred somewhat 

 plentifully at Titahi Bay, where, early in March this year, Mr. 

 O'Connor took no less than eight or ten in one day, and saw as 

 many more. He was collecting on a steep hillside shelving down 

 to the beach, over which a fire had some time previously run, 

 destroying most of the scrub but leaving here and there a few 

 isolated bushes. On beating these the moths flew out, and, not 

 knowing it to be such a rarity, he kept only five or six. He tells 

 me that they would fly for fifteen yards or so and then settle, 

 but would be off again on his approach. The day being very 

 bright, this alertness rather points to the fact that they may be 

 diurnal in their habits. A little later in the month he took one 

 specimen at rest in a garden in Wellington. 



The occurrence of this moth after being practically unknown 

 for nearly thirty years is a matter of much interest and conjecture. 



Utetheisa pulchella, Meyr. 



This daintily coloured species has also been taken at Titahi 

 by Mr. O'Connor. In January last he took ten in one day, some 

 being at flower on the white rata, and the others he netted in the 

 tussock-grass. He states that it has a feeble flight, and is easily 

 captured. This was the only occasion on which he saw it. 



The only New Zealand specimen I have seen is in Mr. Hudson's 

 collection, and was taken by him at W'ainuiomata in 1886. A 

 specimen was taken at Petone by the late Mr. Norris ; and these, 

 I believe, until now, are the only local captures. 



* Trans. N.Z. Inst., vol. ix., p. 459. f Vol. xix., p. 37. 



