144 LF.PIDOPTERA. 



thick but tapering, of the same colour. Fore wings elon- 

 gated of tolerably even breadth, somewhat swollen and 

 hollow beneath at the base of the costa — which is very flatly 

 arched — apex bluntly rounded ; hind margin short and 

 rounded ; colour whitish-drab, shaded broadly along the 

 costa with a tint of reddish-drab ; first line only perceptible 

 as a reddish thread, nearly upright; second line oblique but 

 strongly bent back in the middle, and formed of minute 

 blackish-brown, or reddish, dusting below, and of fainter 

 red-brown dusting above ; discal spot ovate, black brown, 

 usually with a pale centre ; before it is a similar dark spot 

 in the place of the orbicular etigma ; extreme hind margin 

 dotted with brown-black ; cilia glistening pale drab. Hind 

 wings elongated, not very broad, shining silky white or brown- 

 ish-white, shading faintly browner to the apex and hind 

 margin ; cilia white and glistening. Female larger, often 

 double the size ; the palpi visible, pointed and drooping ; 

 abdomen longer and stouter, with a produced and sharply 

 pointed ovipositer ; wings similar but much larger. 



Underside of the fore wings creamy white ; of the hind 

 wings shining white. 



Slightly, perhaps locally, variable in the tint of colour of 

 the fore wings, specimens from the east coast being tinged 

 with grey. 



In the imago state in July and August. 



Larva and Plta not certainly known. In this connection 

 it may be well to quote the late M. Kagonot's observations : 

 " This insect has been confused to a great extent with 

 ancllus, S.Y., on account of the similarity in colour ; it has, 

 however, narrower fore wings, the costa much less rounded ; 

 the wings bear a more uniform colour, ancllus being more 

 varied and mottled ; the safest way to distinguish the two 

 species is by the neuration. Zeller founded his genus 

 Melissohlnptes on hipundnnns, for that species has only seven 

 veins to the hind wings, whilst itii'-llus has eight ; besides in 



