ENTOMOLOGY IN NEW ZEALAND. 9 



the tubercles ; this is not easy to do with this species, owing to 

 the tubercles being scarcely distinguishable upon the segments. 

 The position of the tubercles on the abdominal segments is — 

 anterior trapezoidals on large swollen areas of the principal sub- 

 segment, dorsal, close together, with one hair each ; posterior 

 trapezoidals small and remote on the posterior edge of the next i 

 subsegment, with one hair each; spiracle two-thirds down from 

 median line (dorsal) on the intersegmental membrane of anterior 

 edge of principal subsegment ; above spiracle, slightly posterior, 

 is a tubercle bearing one long, one short, hairs (supra-spira- ' 

 cular) ; immediately posterior to the spiracle are two small 

 tubercles, each with one hair ; below spiracle is a large tubercle 

 with one anterior hair ; prolegs have four hairs at base ; and one 

 hair on inner side of prolegs. Hudson gives no hint as to the 

 time occupied in its transformations, but I found half-grown 

 larva at the time this species is in pupa (September), proving 

 at least two years from ovum to imago. Porina larvae which 

 I have examined agree with Hepialus virescens in the number of 

 hairs on tubercles and prolegs, but the spiracles are moved to 

 the central area of segments, and consequently the position of 

 the tubercles does not correspond with the latter. I hope to give 

 details of the structural characters of all stages of New Zealand 

 Hepialidse at a later date. In the letterpress we observe the 

 following : — " The larvae always consist of thirteen segments, 

 number one being the head." We find this is almost a repeti- 

 tion of Kirby's words ("European"), and is an error which 

 very little use of the microscope would reveal. As a matter of 

 fact, lepidopterous larvae consist of fourteen segments. Again, 

 " usually segments 7 to 9 and 13, each have — fleshy — prolegs." 

 What about 10 (technically 6th abdominal) ? ; and 13 should be 

 14. Moreover, the author is not consistent, for we read— Hepi- 

 alus virescens larva — *' The head is large, dark brown, very irre- 

 gularly striated, and covered with a few short bristles. The first 

 segment is hard and shining," meaning thereby the 1st thoracic, 

 otherwise the prothorax, or, consistently, the second segment. 

 Errors in colour may be the lithogra]3her's, but errors in letter- 

 press must be the author's, and by a man's writings so we 

 must judge his capacity as a student. 



Palmerston North, New Zealand. 



