248 XANTHORHOE. By L. B. Pkoüt. 



ncniWi. X. occulta PJiüpoff (24 k). Pectinations very short. Palpus long. Hindwing elongate after the manner 



oi Ortholitha . The wings in the 9 are narrower than in the o, with the apices rather acutely produced, peihajis 

 in process of becoining semiapterous as Meyrick (Trans. N. Z. Inst., Vol. 64, p. 151) records an extreme case 

 (perhaps teratological) where the power of flight was evidently already lost. Very glossy, almost unmarked 

 above. cell-dots and postmedian showai beneath, where moreover the wings are more alike in colouring (lighter 

 than the forewing above) and the forewing lias some greyish suffusion as far as the postmedian. New Zealand, 

 widely distributed in Otago; in the North Island it has been fonnd in the Tararua Ranges. 



mnesichola. X. mnesichola Meyr. (24 k). Broader-winged and paler, the markings of the forewing above less obso- 



lescent, both wings beneath a little more strongly marked than above, Antennal pectinations normal. Mount 

 Arthur, 4000 to 4800 feet. 



oxyptera. X. oxyptcra Huds. (24 k) has been placed provisionally here, but its author wTites: "As it is represented 



by a Single specimen only, I am unwilling to denude the wings. Hence I cannot be sure that it is correctly re- 

 ferred to XanthorJioe." Pectinations long, black; wings elongate, narrow, forewing extremely acute; greyish 

 brown (forewing rather dark), very glossy, forewing with a black cell-dot. Auckland Island. 



nephelkiK. X. nephelias Meyr. (24 k). Wings strongly glossy; probably better an Orlholitha by shape; in the 5 very 



narrow although not so extreme as in the o oxyptera. A little larger than most of the similarly coloured 

 species. Somewhat intermediate in aspect between L. sericodes and L. exoriens, niuch less weakly niaiked 

 beneath than the former, but not so heavily as is usual in the latter; costal part of forewing pale and weakly 

 marked. Above Arthur 's Pass, 4(500 feet. 



siihflava. X. subflava Hoives is said to resemble L. neyroia in colour and markings "but is I3 larger and the under- 



side is free from marking". Variable in the extent of the markings of the forewing. Hudson srnks it to the 

 preceding, which is plausible, as the series (5 c^,^) came also from Arthur "s Pass (4000 feet); but Mr. Philpott 

 wrote me that, judging by a Single example which he took in the same locality, he believed it was a good species. 

 Perhaps more ochreous and with the postmedian of the forewing more distal and the subterminal marks of the 

 hindwäng stronger; moreover typical nephelias has irregulär longitudinal white streaks and blackish dashes on 

 the hindwing beneath. 



helkis. X. helias Meyr. (24 k). This and some of the succeeding species have also, more or less, the costally 



elongate hindwing which should characterize Ortholitha. but it is obvious that the wing-shape alone is not suffi- 

 eient to justify a Separation, all intergradations occurring; attempts to divide the African '^Ortholitha" from 

 Xanthorhoe have not been successful and it seems useless to repeat them in connection Avith the New Zealand 

 and Australian forms. helias is a rather glossy species. forewing pale yellowish, more deeply ochreous at the 

 co.sta and termen of the forewing: median band darkening in its outer half; proximal subterminal shade darkened 

 against the subterminal line. Hindwing ochreous tinged. generally rather bright. Underside reddish. Dunedin 

 (loc. typ.) and the Hunter Mountains. 



aphelias. X. aphelias nom. nov. (= obscura Philpott, nee Btttl.) (24 i) was published as a race oi helias, with the 



comment, "I shvuld not hesitate to accord this form specific rank but for the fact that some of the specimens, 

 by loss of the fuscous colouring, approach the typical helias". Later (in 1926) Philpott wrate me 'T now con- 

 sider it to be quite worthy of specific rank". As "Scotocoremia'' obscura Butl. (1882) at present Stands in Xantho- 

 rhoe. a new name is required for this. Forewing dull fuscous, shading to ochreous along the costa. Hindwing 

 with the postmedian (dark, edged distally with white) conspieuous. Underside much as in helias. with darker 

 suffusions. The Hump (Waiau, Southland), the o fairly common in a damp scrub-filled gully. late in February. 

 Only one $ was taken and this is remarkable in having both wings much narrowed. 



frivola. X. frivola Meyr.. a single ^ from Invercargill. may conceivably be a remarkable aberration of helias, 



with which it seems to agree in structure: palpus scarcely over 2 (Meyrick gives "214"'), pectinations 

 about 6 (outer series) and 4 (inner series). Small, unusually pale, the median area of the forewing narrowed, 

 its boundary lines and the cell-dot strong, all the other markings shadowy. Underside (as always in helias) 

 more suffused with reddish than uppeiside. Antemedian line of forewing more curved than in normal helias, 

 postmedian with the central projection sharper in front of the Ist median than behind it (in helias about equal 

 i. e. bilobed). I have 2 Avorn Xanthorhoe from Nevis which look somewhat intermediate between this and helias. 



■"tricfu. X. stricta Philpott (24 i). 38 — 39 mm. "Nearest to cataphracta but distinguished by the absence of the 



white fasciae and the somewhat longer antennal pectinations." The piostmedian line is merely sinuous, not 

 angled, and the aberrations in which the many wavy lines are almost equal in expression (not forming definite 

 bands) are slightly reminiscent of overgrown venipunctata. Bold Peak. Humboldt Range (loc. typ.) and Hunter 

 Mountains at 3000 feet. 



