422 NATURAL HISTORY OF HAWAII. 



posely introduced from ^lexico to feed on the flowers and leaves of the 

 Lantana. 



The white cabbage bntterfl.y '■'' is the representative of the third family »- 

 of the butterflies occurring in Hawaii. Here, as in America, they are an in- 

 troduced species, and, as elsewhere, they are common in gardens,, especially 

 about cabbage, where their larva^ as cabbage-worms, bore into the cabbage 

 heads and devour the leaves. 



In the genus, to which the introduced black cut-worm •'■' found feeding on 

 garden and farm crops, sugar-cane and weeds belongs, there are enumerated 

 at least two dozen native species. They are for the most part fair-sized, 

 somber-colored, night-flying moths. Fortunately, the native species prefer to 

 inhabit the higher forested areas, rather than the lower agricultural zone. 

 However, there are several species belonging to the genus Agrotis as well 

 as species of such genera as Leucania, Heliothis, Spodoptcra, belonging to this 

 extensive family '■'■* and to the related family "'"' that furnish a number of forms 

 that infest the grass and the crops of cultivated lands on the lower levels. 

 One species,"" with silver commas on the forewings, is an inti'oduced troultle- 

 some general feeder that is liable to attack almost any useful plant. 



The su])('i'-faiuily Xotodoiitina, with its three families and ten genera, fur- 

 nish a number of species of considerable economic importance. One genus "'^ 

 in this division has perhaps thirty species that are among the more abundant 

 and showy moths met with in the islands. Their caterpillars of dift'erent 

 species often occur in large numbers on guava. koa, ferns and various other 

 plants and trees. 



Coming to the fourth super-family,'"^ with seven families and thirty-two 

 genera in the Hawaiian faiuia, we find the various species of the genus 

 Oriiiodcs represented by the cocoanut palm leaf -roller ,*'9 among the most 

 troublesome native moths. A genus i"" belonging to the same family i"" is 

 represented by at least fifty-six native species of attractive moths that have 

 the forewings very narrow and often conspicuously marked with spots, blotches 

 and wavy designs of various colors. As the range of the genus seems to be 

 between two and ten thousand feet in the mountains, species are usually 

 secured from high, moist regions. They feed almost exclusively on moss and 

 lichens, in which the larva» are said to spin curious silken tunnels for them- 

 selves. 



Up to the time Dr. Perkins began his work in the islands but thirty-five 

 species belonging to the grand division of Microlcpidoptera were known from 

 Hawaii. Lord Walsingham, after working over the material a.ssembled by 

 Dr. Perkins, recorded four hTuidred and forty-one species. The labor involved 

 in adding so many species of insect life to the fauna, by the eft'orts of a single 

 naturalist, can be appreciated better when we realize that the great majority 

 of these minute creatures do not exceed a half inch in length. 



"^ Pieris raptc. "- Pierlda'. 



**'* Plusia rhalrites. "" .SVofc 

 101 Pyraustidoe. 



