30 Transactions. 



Art. V.^ — A Revision of New Zealand Pyralidina. 

 By E. Meyrick, B.A., F.E.S. 



Communicated by G. V. Hudson, F.E.S. 



[Rend before the Wellington Philosophical Society, 23rd October, 1912.] 



At the request of Mr. G. V. Hudson I have here revised the genera of 

 Pyralidina occurring in New Zealand. 



The representation of this group in New Zealand presents the same 

 features as that of the Caradrinina, but in a still more exaggerated form. 

 The group contains about ten families, and a vast number of genera and 

 species, being most largely developed in tropical regions ; but in New Zealand 

 most of the principal divisions are either absent or barely represented by 

 a very few stragglers or immigrants, whilst at the same time the groups 

 of Crambns and Scoparia are so disproportionately developed that the 

 Pyralidina as a whole form 22 per cent, of the entire lepidopterous fauna, 

 probably a larger proportion than in any other region. 



The geographical origin of these numerously developed sections is, as 

 set forth in my paper on the Caradrinina, undoubtedly to be traced to South 

 America. This is remarkably borne out by the curious circumstance that 

 Cranihis is virtually absent from the Australasian region, though otherwise 

 cosmopolitan and dominant, and therefore could only have entered from 

 the south. It is probable that Cramhus and Scoparia, which are tolerant 

 of cold climates, and feed in the larval state on grasses and moss, attained 

 considerable development in an antarctic continent under conditions similar 

 to those now prevailing in the Falkland Islands (which seem to be actually 

 a remnant of such a continent, and should exhibit a similar lepidopterous 

 fauna), the remnants of this fauna being now isolated in a few last refuges,, 

 of which New Zealand is the chief. 



The fragmentary and scantily developed portion of the fauna represents 

 the results of accidental wind-borne immigration over a wide sea, and 

 might reasonably have been expected to be larger than it is, for many of 

 the Pyrales are great travellers ; perhaps in no other group are there so many 

 species of very wide distribution. Many species range through most of 

 Asia, Africa, Australia, and the Pacific islands, and yet have failed to reach 

 New Zealand. 



The Pterophoridae present some difficulty, and seem at first to stand 

 on a different footing from either of the above sections of the fauna. The 

 larvae of the New Zealand species are not known (they ought to be), but, 

 according to all experience of the family in other regions, they should feed 

 on highly developed dicotyledonous plants, especially Compositae and 

 Gentianaceae.* These natural orders are well represented in New Zealand, 

 and the character of the genera is such that most of them seem to have 

 been derived from an antarctic continent, such as is described above. I 

 therefore have no doubt that the Pterophoridae may be reckoned to have 

 entered by this route. If flower-heads of Cehnisia, Senecio, and Gentiana 

 are examined or collected in early summer, there would be every probability 

 of breeding some of the species. 



* The larva of Aluciti monospil ilis feels on Nothop :nix Edgerleyi, and that of 

 A. lycosemi on Coprosmt gr indifoli i. Plati/pfilia aeolodes feeds on J uncus, anl P^ 

 falcat dis almos' certainly on Veronici. — G. V. H. 



