21 



to ;il)out the middle of Hth iibdoniinal segment, free beyond tlie 

 4th segment; cremaster truneate triangular, with 4 pairs of 

 hooked spines fastent^d into the eoeoon. Very similar to other 

 Omiodes pupae. Pupation t;dces plaee in a slight eoeoon in the 

 catepillar's "retreat." 



Omiodes asaphombra Me^u*. (Plate 11, tig. o). 



" ^ . 35 lum. Head, thorax, and abdomen fuscous. Palpi fuscous, 

 lower half white. Forewings long, termen slightly sinuate; fuscous, 

 somewhat mixed with whitish and darker; a very broad dark fuscous 

 median band mixed with ferruginous, not reaching costa, anterior edge 

 straight, anterior half of upper edge excavated, with a dark fuscous 

 orbicular dot in excavation before middle, posterior edge wholly suffused 

 and undefined; a terminal series of dark fuscous dots. Hindwings 

 rather dark fuscous; a slightly paler postmedian shade, darker-edged, 

 obtusely angulated in middle." [Meyrick, Fauna Hawaiiensis, I, 

 Pt. 11, p. 202, 1899.] 



Female of similar eoloration to tht' male. 



This is a rare species. So far it has been collected only at 

 Kilauea, Hawaii, the Waimea Mountains of Kauai, and the 

 mountains al)ove Palolo, Oahu. The caterpillars feed only on 

 Silver Sword ( Astelia veratroides) , and, hence, the species is 

 restricted to those localities (jf the mountains where this plant 

 grows. I have found the caterpillars feeding l)etween the leaves 

 at the crown of the plant where they are close together. They 

 eat the surface and substance of the leaf, leaving the opposite 

 epidermis, which shows as dead portions of the leaves. In some 

 small phmts, I found the caterpillars boring down into tlie stem 

 where they \vm\ been feeding l)etween the leaves in the middle of 

 the crown of the plant. 



Caterpillar.— (Plate III, tig. 1). Full-grown about 27 mm.; 

 bright green if they have been feeding on the greener leaves, paler 

 if they have fed in the inner part of the crown where there is very 

 little chlorophyll in the leaves; darker green along the dorsal 

 vessel. Head very pale testaceous, the tAVO black spots on the 

 the face are much smaller than they are in the other Omiodes 

 whose caterpillars are known; ocelli black, a black dot at each 

 postero-ventral angle. Cervical shield with lilack lateral margin, 

 heavier anteriorly; a large and a small black spot in each lateral 



