Meyeick. — On New Zealand Micro-Lepidoptera, 27 



11. Or. vittellus, Dbld. 



(Crambus vittellus, Dbld., Dieff. New Zeal., Vol. II., 289 ; Crambus nexalis, Walk., Brit. 



Mus. Cat., 178; Crambus transcissalis, ibid., 178 ; Crambus sublicellus, Z., Mon. Cr., 



31; Crambus bisectellus, ibid., 32; Crambus incrassatellus , ibid., 32; Crambus 



vapidus, Butl., Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1877, 399.) 



Male, female. — 20-25 mm. Head white, a spot on face and posterior 

 margins of eyes very pale greyish-ochreous. Maxillary palpi white, towards 

 base externally greyish-ochreous. Labial palpi moderately long, white, 

 externally greyish-ochreous or brownish-ochreous. Antennae dark fuscous. 

 Thorax white, more or less ochreous on sides. Abdomen ochreous-whitish, 

 more ochreous towards base. Legs whitish, beneath suffused with dark 

 fuscous. Forewings moderate, in female rather narrow, costa gently 

 arched, apex rounded-acute, hindmargin nearly straight or very slightly 

 sinuate, moderately oblique ; greyish-ochreous or brown, darkest on costal 

 half; sometimes irrorated with whitish scales towards inner margin and 

 posterior half of costa ; often a more or less distinct suffused white streak 

 extending along more or less of posterior half of costa, broadest at f ; a 

 moderate nearly straight central longitudinal white streak, rather attenuated 

 at base, extending to hindmargin, sometimes attenuated posteriorly, 

 margins often irregular on posterior half, sometimes suffusedly margined 

 with dark fuscous on basal half beneath and on posterior half above, often 

 irregularly interrupted by the transverse lines ; extremity of median streak 

 produced upwards into a narrow white projection along hindmargin nearly 

 to apex ; sometimes two transverse darker lines or series of spots, more or 

 less distinctly cutting median streak, first from middle of costa to -J- of 

 inner margin, very acutely angulated above streak, second from f of costa 

 to before anal angle, less acutely angulated ; inner margin sometimes white 

 towards base ; three or four tolerably distinct black dots on hindmargin 

 below middle ; a tolerably distinct slender dark fuscous hindmarginal line : 

 cilia shining-grey or whitish-grey, with a somewhat darker basal line, three 

 or four slender white bars on upper half, sometimes confluent at base, and 

 another above anal angle. Hindwings whitish-fuscous-grey, paler towards 

 base, darker at apex ; cilia ochreous-grey- whitish. 



This very common and very variable species, which may be regarded as 

 the type of the New Zealand representatives of the genus, may in all its 

 forms be sufficiently well distinguished from those with which it is most 

 likely to be confused, by the white bars of the cilia, and the black hind 

 marginal dots below median streak. It most approaches 0. dicrenellus and 

 C. flexuosellus, differing further from the former in the white costal suffusion 

 not extending towards base, and from the latter in the central position of 

 the white streak, and the paler costal area. 



