\ 



36 SPOLLA ZKVI.AMCA. 



Alucita can did alls, Wlk. 



Candidalis.—mk., Cat. XXX., 948 ; Meyr., T. E. S., 1907, 490 ; 

 Wlsm., T. E. S., 1881, 282 ; 1. c, 1897, 36. 



Li iic<i</<ich/ht. -Wlk., Cat. XXX., 949; Moore, Lcp. Ceylon, III., 

 528, t. 209, f. 15. 



Distribution. — Kegalla, Labugama, Weligama, Kandy, Mas- 

 keliya, Haldummulla, Lunugala. 



In Ceylon this is apparently rather a low-country species and 

 is not common. Outside of Ceylon its distribution extends from 

 Sierra Leone and South Africa t brough India to the Philippines, New 

 Guinea, and Queensland. 



The larva is unknown, but may be looked for on some species of 



Ipomoza. . _, 



Alucita niveodactyla, Pag. 



Niveodactyla.—Pdig., Zoologica, XXIX. 240; Meyr., T. E. S., 

 1907, 490. 



Nivea.— Snellen, Tijd. Ent. XLVI., 56, t. 5, f. 17. 



Distribution. — Maskeliya (Coll. de Mowbray), Madulsima, Lunu- 

 gala, Diyatalawa, Haputale. 



In Ceylon it is a scarce species, principally confined to the hill 

 districts of Uva. 



,' Outside of Ceylon it has been recorded from Java, the Philip- 

 pines, and the Bismarck Archipelago. 



Early Stages —Larva. — The larva feeds on the young leaves of an 

 Ipomoza, eating the leaves from the outside and not entering within 

 the unexpanded leaf in the manner of Steganodactyla concur m. In 

 colour it is of a uniform pale yellowish-green thickly studded with 

 long fasciculated tufts of whitish hairs, of which those of the dorsal 

 row are the longest and sometimes tipped with brown. These 

 hair-tufts are extremely complicated, and their appearance will be 

 best understood from the rough sketch of a larval segment (Plate F. , 

 figure 9) ; under the microscope these tufts of long hairs recall the 

 armature of spines exhibited by an Echinid, which is very common 

 on rocks along the coast. 



Parasites. — An extremely large proportion of the larvae appears 

 to be infested by a parasitic ichneumonid fly. 



Pupa.— The pupa is green, thickly covered with pale green spinous 

 hairs and with an interrupted dorsal and sub-dorsal row of black 

 spots. The moth emerges after about a week. 



Alucita melanopoda, Fletcher. 

 (Plate A., figure 13.) 

 Entom., 1907, 284. 

 Distribution. — Kandy, Haragama, Madulsima 

 Apparently a scarce species in Ceylon ; it has also been found in 

 Assam. 

 Early Stages. — Unknown. 



