13 



raised; luiirs very delicate, distributed as in other Omiodes\ ore- 

 master blunt-pointed, with 8 hooked spines. Pupa formed in 

 place where the caterpillar had lived. Pupal period about 12 

 days. 



Omiodes continuatalis (Wall.) (Plate II, fig 2 ) . 



" ^ 9 27-31 mm. Antennal ciliations one-fourth. Abdomen lij:jht 

 greyish-fuscous, becoming blackish-grey posteriorly, segmental margins 

 white. Fore wings rather dark fuscous; a narrow white central longi- 

 tudinal streak from base to near middle ; a slender white longitudinal 

 streak in disc above middle from one-third to two-thirds, sometimes 

 obscure ; sometimes a dark fuscous dot in disc at one-third and another 

 in middle, especially in female ; a strong nearly straight white line from 

 immediately beneath costa at three-fourths to inner margin at two-thirds, 

 thence slenderly produced along inner margin to one-third, sinuate in- 

 wards below the middle, anteriorly edged with darker; a whitish irrora- 

 tion forming an obscure hind-marginal border; a thick interrupted 

 blackish-fuscous hind-marginal line ; cilia fuscous- whitish, with a thick 

 fuscous line- Hind wings fuscous; an obscure darker Jiscal spot at 

 one-third ; a strong nearly straight white line from beneath costa at two- 

 thirds to anal angle, slightly sinuate near lower extremity, preceded by a 

 cloudy dark fuscous line ; a thick blackish-fuscous hind-marginal line ; 

 cilia white, with a dark fuscous line." [Meyrick, Trans. Ent. Soc. 

 London, p. 215, 1888]. 



Tliis moth oceiu's commonly on all of the islands of tliis group; 

 in some localities very abundantly. Its chief food plants so far 

 as I have ol)served are Heteropop[on contortus ("Pili" grass) and 

 Paspaium comJ7i^aUnn (Hilo grass). On one occasion I saw the 

 moths very numerous in a field of introduced grass at Olinda, 

 Maui, but I could find no caterpillars at the time, altho they had 

 presumably fed on this grass. Mr. Terry has reported it in one 

 instance fee(ling on sugar cane on Kauai. 



The caterpillars of this species are in the habit of hiding among 

 the mass of dead leaves at the base of tufts of grass, and feeding 

 oil the lowermost accessible green leaves instead of feeding on 

 upper leaves and hiding in a rolled up leaf, as several of the 

 other species of Omiodes do. However, where several were feeding 

 on grass in a Ijreeding cage, one caterpillar rolled up a leaf to hide 

 in. The pupa is formed in a slight cocoon in the same place that 

 the caterpillar had for a hiding-place. Pupal period is about 

 12-15 days. 



