40 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 
this insect is a member of the Diptera, viz., Chlorogaster rujficeps. 
This fly evidently deposits its eggs on the skin of the larva, as it 
possesses no ovipositor, but simply that organ known as the 
tube, which is entirely unfitted to penetrate the skin. I have not, 
however, been fortunate enough to detect the insect ovipositing, 
and therefore speak only from supposition. The caterpillars 
infested are apparently quite as healthy and active as the rest; 
they even change into pupe before the parasite emerges. A few 
days after the change the maggot eats its way out of the hard 
shell, and turns into a dark brown coarctate pupa, with scarcely 
any trace of articulations. ‘The perfect fly appears in about six 
weeks; and is chiefly remarkable for the agility of its move- 
ments, and its very large pearly white scales, which render it 
very conspicuous. In the two cases which I have observed the 
numbers in the caterpillar were one and two respectively. 
The pupa (of the moth) is from 6 to 8 lines in length; it is of 
a shining black colour, with many longitudinal 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; from this the moth 
proceeds in the course of a month or six weeks (sometimes con- 
siderably longer). 
The perfect insect is very common, being found profusely in 
the neighbourhood of its food-plants. It is of a uniform black 
colour, with the posterior margins of the abdominal segments 
yellow; there are also several yellow marks on the thorax. The 
anterior wings have a band of three cream-coloured spots near 
the lateral margin, which vary very much in size, and are 
frequently almost coalescent. The posterior wings have one 
round spot near the centre. Antenne strongly bipectinate in the 
male, slightly so near the base in the female. Expanse from 12 
to 18 lines. 
This insect is diurnal in its habits, few being found about at 
night. Its flight is very feeble, and somewhat resembles that of 
the well-known British Satyrus janira. 
Thackwood, Uakapuaka, Nelson, N.Z., October 3, 1882. 
