THE LEPIDOPTERA. 73 



Family BoMBYCID^E. 



Nyctemera annulata (Plate IX., fig. 3 $ , 3 a larva, 3b pupa). 



This abundant species is usually mistaken for a butterfly 

 by the uninitiated owing to its diurnal habits and con- 

 spicuous colouring. Its larva feeds on various plants, the 

 most usual being a light green kind of ivy with yellow 

 flowers, but its original food no doubt consisted of the 

 " New Zealand groundsel " (Senecio bellidioides), on which 

 it may now be occasionally taken in wild situations. Its 

 general colour is black, with interrupted dorsal and lateral 

 lines, the ventral surface and connecting membrane between 

 the segments being slate-coloured. In younger larvae there 

 are also several slate-coloured lines extending the whole 

 length of the insect, and thus dividing the black into 

 squares. Round the middle of each segment, at its greatest 

 circumference, a variable number of brilliant blue warts are 

 situated, and out of these dense tufts of long black hair take 

 their rise. There are, however, no warts along the ventral 

 surface. This description applies very well as a rule, but 

 the larva is subject to many slight variations. It remains 

 in this state for nearly three months, or more, according to 

 the season, and is very common, numbers being found on 

 the different plants which constitute its food. The pupa 

 (Fig. 3b) is of a shining black colour, with many longi- 

 tudinal rows of small yellow blotches on the abdominal 

 segments ; there is also a stripe of the same colour at the 

 tip of the wing-case. It is enclosed in a slight cocoon, 

 formed of a mixture of silk and hair, and is attached near 

 the ground to any firm object. The moth emerges in 

 the course of a month or six weeks. It is very common, 

 being found profusely in the neighbourhood of its food- 

 plants, and appears in the greatest numbers during the 

 early morning hours in the middle of summer. 



