wings fuscous, darkest on costa towards base ; veins whitish or whitish- 

 ochreous ; a dark fuscous dot towards costa at one-third, and a second 

 (sometimes obsolete) in disc above middle ; a dark fuscous fascia from 

 beneath costa at three-fifths to one-third of inner margin, interrupted 

 partially by veins, its anterior edge well-defined and preceded by an 

 obscure ochreous-whitish line, slightly concave, posterior edge suffused ; 

 a nearly straight or faintly sinuous ochreous-whitish line from costa be- 

 fore apex to three-fifths of inner margin, anteriorly finely margined with 

 dark fuscous, posteriorly followed by a rather broad dark fuscous suf- 

 fusion ; a thick interrupted blackish-fuscous hind-marginal line ; cilia 

 fuscous-whitish, with two fuscous lines, second sometimes suffused and 

 obscure. Hind wings fuscous-grey ; a transverse darker discal mark at 

 one-third ; a rather irregular nearly straight cloudy whitish line from 

 costa at three-fourths to anal angle, preceded by a narrow and followed 

 by a broader darker fuscous, suffusion ; hind-marginal line and cilia as 

 in fore wings." [Meyrick, Trans. Ent. Soc. London, p. 214, 1888.] 



Tins is a native moth, and its caterpillars were probably origin- 

 ally grass-feeders, Init at the present time they feed largely upon 

 sugar cane. It is found especially in sugar plantations, or the 

 portions of plantations, which are quite high, or are near to the 

 native forests; for example th(> upper parts of plantations of the 

 Koluila, Hamakua, Hil(» and Kau (hstricts of Hawaii, but it is 

 generally distril)uted however, — a few found in nearly all, if not 

 all, of the plantations of these islands, l)ut scarce in the irrigated 

 plantations of the dry districts. Besides feeding upon sugar cane, 

 it is also found along witli other species of Omiodes, feeding upon 

 Hilo gri-!-! [P.isbxlum conjii'^a.tum) , Pa^p.ihim orbiculare, Pan- 

 iaim pruricns, and other grasses. I have also found the cater- 

 pillars feeding upon Pampas grass, and on a native sedge, Baiimea 

 meyani . 



It is present in some fields of cane sometimes in such large num- 

 bers as to do considerable damage, in fact cases have been re- 

 ported where the young cane has been entirely stripped of leaves. 

 Sucli instances are not numerous, liowever, and even in the worst 

 cases would not result in entir(> destruction of the crop of cane as 

 it Avould grow again after the" caterpillars had obtained their 

 growth, or tlieir parasites had got them checked. It is not usual- 

 ly to be considered a serious pest. Possil)ly it is not so abundant 

 now^ as it was a fcAV years ago when reports were made of cane 

 fields having been entirely stripped by tliem. 



At present there are a number of parasites preying upon this 

 species and this keeps them well in check. 



