TRANSACTIONS 
OF THE 
NEW ZEALAND INSTITUTE 
1882. 
I.—ZOOLOGY. 
Art. L— Descriptions of New Zealand Micro-Lepidoptera. 
By E. Meyricx, B.A 
(Read before the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury, Ath May, 1882.] 
Tur present paper is the first of a series, which I hope to publish from 
time to time, describing the whole of the Micero-Lepidoptera of New Zea- 
land; including under that term the Pyralidina, Pterophorina, Tortricina 
and Tineina, My intention is to take a family at a time, and monograph 
it as completely as is at present possible, prefacing each with some general 
remarks on its classification and affinities, and the inferences which may 
be drawn from its distribution with relation to New Zealand. For the sake 
of convenience and expedition, I shall not take the families in their natural 
order, but according as for various reasons they are easiest treated. 
The most essential character for classification is the neuration, and it is 
absolutely necessary that this should be investigated for the accurate deter- 
mination of genera. It is not, however, by any means always necessary 
that a specimen should be denuded of scales for the purpose; with the aid 
of a lens the veins:can generally be made out by inspection of the under- 
surface of the wing, where they are more prominent, especially if one has 
previously examined types of the principal groups and learnt what to look 
for. The terminology employed hereafter is that generally in use on the 
Continent of Europe, and from its simplicity and adaptability is far superior 
to the awkward and confusing nomenclature sometimes adopted. The 
veins are all numbered, starting from the one nearest the inner margin, 
and ending with the one nearest the costa. Typically, there are in the 
forewings twelve veins, 1 and 12 being free, and the other ten springing 
from the margins of a central cell, consisting of an upper, lower and hind- 
margin, often called the sub-costal, median (or upper and lower median), 
- and transverse veins ; sometimes there is a partition-vein in the upper part 
