92 NEW ZEALAND MACRO-LEPIDOPTERA. 



colouring. The female also varies in the ground colour and in the intensity of the 

 transverse lines, which are sometimes marked by a few black dots. 



The larva, according to Mr. Purdie, is light grey, cylindrical, about f inch in length. 

 It may be beaten in February from an undergrowth of Carpodetus and Aristofelia. 



The perfect insect appears from November till March. It frequents dense 

 forest and is often very abundant. The colouring of the upper and under surfaces of 

 its wings, and the shape of the wings are both very protective, giving the moth an 

 exact resemblance to a dead leaf. When disturbed, the insect adds to this deception by 

 keeping its wings quite motionless and rigidly extended, and allowing itself to fall 

 through the air like a leaf. The resemblance in this case to the inanimate object is 

 very perfect, and has no doubt enabled the moth to escape from many enemies. It 

 is, in fact, an extremely interesting example of the simultaneous development of 

 structure and instinct in a useful direction, through the agency of natural selection. 



This species is much attracted both by light and by blossoms. 



Genus 7. AZELINA, Gn. 



" Face with some projecting hairs. Palpi rather long, obliquely ascending, roughly 

 scaled, attenuated. Antennae in male thick, simple. Fore-wings with vein 6 from below 9, 7 

 from below angle of areole, 10 very shortly touching 9, 11 separate, 12 free. Hind-wings normal. 



A genus of some extent, specially characteristic of South America. Guenee made a 

 separate genus (Polygonia) of the New Zealand species, but without any point of distinction." 

 (Meyrick.) (Plate II., figs. 54 and 55, neuration of Azelina gallaria.) 



We have three species in New Zealand.* 



AZELINA GALLAEIA, Walk. 



Seknia gallaria, Walk. 185, Butl., Cat., pi. iii. 6, 7. Euchlaena (?) palthidata, Feld. cxxxii. 21, 22. 

 Stratockis gallaria, Meyr., Trans. N. Z. Inst. xvi. 105; Azelina gallaria, xx. 62.) 

 (Plate X., figs. 13 to 20 $ varieties, 21 to 23 ? ditto.) 



This species is very common in the neighbourhood of Wellington. It has also 

 occurred at Palmerston North, Makotuku, Christchurch, Dunedin and Stewart Island. 



The expansion of the wings is \\ inches. The fore-wings of the male vary from pale 

 yellowish-brown to bright orange-brown, or reddish-brown; there is a wavy transverse line near 

 the base, often obsolete except on the costa ; another wavy transverse line beyond the middle, 

 also frequently obsolete except on the costa ; followed by a very conspicuous straight line, often 

 double, running obliquely from a little before the apex to the dorsum ; outside this line, near the 

 tornus, there are, in most specimens, two black spots or one large rust-red spot ; the termen 

 has two projections near the apex, inside which there is usually a darker blotch. The hind-wings 

 are as variable in colour as the fore-wings ; there is one wavy line near the base, followed by an 

 alinost straight line, which is a continuation of the straight line of the fore-wing ; beyond this 

 line the ground colour is generally much darker ; the termen itself has no projections. The female 

 has broader wings and a shorter body than the male ; the ground colour and markings are 

 similar to those of the male, but are usually more sombre, and the termen of both fore- and hind- 

 wings is furnished with a number of prominent projections. The under side of the wings in 

 both sexes is beautifully marbled with yellow and reddish- brown, and several of the markings of 

 the upper surface are faintly indicated. 



This species, as will be seen from the foregoing, is so extremely variable that a 

 more detailed description would be useless, especially as the straight, oblique, 

 transverse lines of both fore- and hind-wings will at once distinguish it from the two 

 other members of the genus. 



* Mr. Meyrick now includes these three species in the genus Oonophylla. (See Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond. 1897, 387.) 



