Meyrick. — On New Zealand Geometrina. 



49 



Index op Species — continued. 



galaxias, n. sp. 



.. 13. 



sordida, Butl. 



.. 6. 



griseata, Butl. 



.. 42. 



spartodeta, n. sp. . . 



.. 11. 



hamatella, Walk. . . 



.. 32. 



taongella, Feld. . . 



.. 10. 



hemimochla, n. sp. . . 



.. 41. 



teras, Feld 



.. 20. 



homodoxa, n. sp. 



.. 50. 



tholodella, n. sp. 



.. 29. 



hopiodesnia, n. sp. . . 



.. 52. 



utuella, Feld. 



.. 31. 



horasa, n. sp. 



.. 45. 



zophoessa, Meyr. . . 



.. 3. 



huttonii, Butl. 



..19. ■ 







Art. II. — A Monograph of the New Zealand Geometrina. 

 By E. Meyeick, B.A. 

 [Read before the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury, 2nd August, 1883.] 

 I undertook the preparation of this paper, the subject of which does not fall 

 within the limits of my special duty, by request ; and on the conviction that 

 the work was both highly desirable, and not otherwise likely to be executed. 

 The Geometrina are naturally the first group to attract the attention of 

 Lepidopterists in New Zealand ; the butterflies and Bombycina are but few 

 in number ; the Noctuina also are neither numerous nor obtrusive. But the 

 Geometrina are present everywhere, and are often elegantly or even 

 brilliantly coloured, and their great variability makes them appear more 

 numerous specifically than they are. Notwithstanding, it has been so 

 impracticable for local collectors to get their specimens named, that very 

 few have as yet attempted to do any good with them. The literature on 

 the subject consists entirely of scattered papers and lists, all partial, and 

 generally quite irreconcilable with each other ; and the accumulation of 

 synonymy has been so great, that it might well alarm a beginner. Many 

 of the forms described as species are merely varieties, and the genera and 

 families adopted by English writers are in the main both unnatural and 

 unintelligible, being based wholly on wing-form and superficial resemblance, 

 and necessarily incapable of accurate definition. The present paper is 

 intended to provide a tolerably secure foundation for other workers, who 

 will supply the omissions and correct the errors which were inseparable from 

 the circumstances of the case. For their guidance, I will explain fully how 

 far the paper is reliable. 



I have never before investigated the genera of the Geometrina, and have 

 no access to any works bearing on species outside New Zealand, except 

 Guenee's. The conclusions of Lederer and Heinemann have therefore not 



