TRANSACTIONS 



OP THE 



NEW ZEALAND INSTITUTE 



18 8 2. 



I. — ZOOLOGY. 



Art. I. — Descriptions of New Zealand Micro-Lepidoptera. 

 By E. Meyrick, B.A. 

 [Read before the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury, 4th May, 1882.] 

 The present paper is the first of a series, which I hope to publish from 

 time to time, describing the whole of the Micro-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 classsification 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 



