Islands), Agrotis ypsilon Rott., and even our little Hypenodes 

 costaestrigalis Steph., all insects of nearly world-wide distribu- 

 tion. A good many of the endemic Noctuae are handsomely 

 marked and attractive-looking moths, though few are of 

 bright colour or more than moderate size ; and they share 

 with our species their susceptibility to the attractions of 

 " sugar," which is resorted to by the resident Lepidopterists 

 with as much success as at home. 



The Geometrina form an outstanding feature in the Lepid- 

 opterous fauna of New Zealand. In number of species they 

 are surpassed only by the Tineina, and in beauty of varied 

 pattern and delicacy of colouring many are excelled nowhere 

 else in the world. In the words of Mr. Meyrick,* " the group 

 exhibits the same inequality of representation of families that 

 has been noticed in the others; three-fourths of the whole 

 number of species belong to the family Hydriomenidae, which 

 is very adequately represented, while the Selidosemidae and 

 Monocteniadae are very imperfectly exhibited, and the other 

 families either wholly absent or indicated only by one or two 

 casually introduced immigrants." The foreign element is 

 here even less in evidence than in any other division of the 

 Lepidoptera, and only some nine or ten of the 219 known 

 species are found beyond the limits of the New Zealand region. 

 A few species occur in open situations, but the greater number 

 inhabit the forest, and in many cases their colour and markings 

 exhibit a beautifully protective adaptation to their environ- 

 ment. The members of the genera Notoreas, Dasyuris, and 

 Arcteuthes, are brightly coloured mountain insects which fly 

 in the sunshine up to an elevation of 6000 feet, and are found 

 mostly in the South Island, and the species of Declana, which 

 include some of the most handsome of the indigenous moths, 

 are distinguished by their robust build, strongly contrasted 

 patterns, and in the commonest, D.floccosa Walk., for extreme 

 variability in colour and markings. 



The Pyralidina of New Zealand number 216 species, included 

 in 33 genera, and as pointed out by Mr. Meyrick,t comprise 



* Revision of the New Zealand Notodontina, Trans. N.Z. Inst., XLIX, 

 pp. 248-273. 



t Revision of the New Zealand Pyralidina, Trans. N.Z. Inst., XLV, 

 p. 50. 



