THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 59 



NOTES ON THE MOTHS GASTROPHORA HENRIGARIA 

 AND PU ALL A HI A OPHIUSARIA, Gn. 



By Ernest Anderson. 

 {Read htfvre the Field Naturalists' Club of Victoria, 12th May, 1902.) 

 In submitting a few notes upon these two species 1 may remark 

 that I am led thereto by Meyrick's note respecting the alUed 

 genus Mo7ioctenia, of which he says: — "The species are very 

 retired in habit m the imago state, and it is not unhkely that 

 their number may yet be considerably increased by rearing the 

 larvee, of which little is known." 



These remarks apply with equal force to Gastrophora and 

 Phallaria, hence any advance upon our present recorded infor- 

 mation should be of value, and has induced me to record such 

 particulars of their economy as I have been able to discover. 



The Geometers are chiefly small moths of slender structure, 

 but in the family Monocteniadse we find genera in which this 

 rule is departed from ; thus Gastrophora, Phallaria, and the 

 typical genus Monoctenia are composed of comparatively robust 

 species attaining considerable size. All of these must be con- 

 sidered rare, and as a rule are not likely to be met with by those 

 unacquainted with their habits and time of appearance. The 

 characteristic marking is simple enough, consisting of a line or 

 narrow band across the wings, starting about the centre of inner 

 margin, and running either to the centre of costa, or more often 

 to the apex of the wing. As these moths rest during the daytime 

 they furnish a good example of protective resemblance, their 

 colouration matching withered leaves ; the line across the wings 

 representing the midrib of the leaf 



GASTROPHORA HENRIGARIA, GN. 



My first record of this beautiful moth is November, 1890, when 

 I found a male at rest at Bayswater. It had been very stormy 

 the night before, but the specimen was in first-class condition. 

 It was found high up on the ranges. The following year a 

 specimen was secured by one of the members attending the 

 F.N.C. camp-out at the Grampians, this specimen being a female. 

 Apparently, however, no attempt was made to obtain ova, and to 

 the best of my knowledge no further Victorian captures were 

 made until four years later, when Mr. Spry captured two speci- 

 mens at Box Hill (26th December, 1895). 



Recognizing the importance of his capture, Mr. Spry took 

 special care to obtain ova, and fortunately was successful. The 

 young larvae emerged almost immediately, and on the 20th 

 January I received eleven specimens from him. They were then 

 of a steely-drab colour, almost black, and about i inch long, 

 but so voracious were they that in three days they had doubled 

 their size, and then became mottled with various shades of brown. 



