AKD TIIEIR TRANSFORMATIONS. 17 



Referring to the generic characters of tlie Cerura as detailed by many authors, it Avill bo seen that our Australian species 

 differs principally from the European ones by the fore wings not being sub-diaplianous, by tlic transverse bar being bright blue and 

 almost macular, and by the Cocoon having at th e upper end a circular space composed of much weaker material than the other portions. 



A sprig of the Scolopia Brownii is drawn in the engraving, an indigenous plant, w-e may remark, which, if introduced more 

 generally, would prove ornamental to the shrubbery from the profusion of its fragrant flowers and gay parti-coloured berries ; 

 upon this, its natural food, the caterpillar is shown in its resting position, with the fleshy tlireads exserted ; tlie mollis 6 and ? are 

 also given. 



DORATIOPHORA. 



Bomhijx, Lewin. 

 Voratifm-a, Duncan. 



AIec sat lata>, angulis, apiealibus interioribusriue rotundatis ; antictc corrugata;, costa in foeminis subreota, in maribiis 

 subconeavii. Corpus in fceminis valdc, in maribus modice robustum, alas vix superans. Caput parvum. Thorax non 

 fasoiculatus. Antenna!, 3Ias. — modice bipcctinata;, dimidio terminali serrate : Fcem. — sctaceoe. Palpi parvi, dense pilosi, 

 porrecti, dcflexique, articulis terminalibus, basalibusque parvis, secundo bis longiori. Pedes sat validi, siibpilosi, tibiis 

 tarsorumque articulis oxterne scopatis, tibiisquc postcrioribus calcaribus duobus parvis apiealibus armatis. Larva crassa, 

 elongata, in dorsum deprcssa, truncata, subtusque glutinosa, ramulis spiniformibus plerumque lateralibus, projectionibusque 

 radiatis retractilibus pungere potentibus, supra armatis ; capite parvo, retractili, pcdibusque obsoletis. PoUiculus coiiaceus, 

 operculiferus ct ramulo-fixtus. 



Wings moderately broad, rounded at the tips and hinder angles ;' costa of the fore wings of the female rather straight, of 

 the male somewhat concave. Surface corrugated. Body very stout in the female, moderately so in the male ; projecting slightly 

 beyond the hind wings. Head small. Thorax not tufted. Antennse, male moderately bipeetinated to about half the length, 

 serrated thence to the tip ; female setaceous. Palpi small, densely pilose, projecting forwards and downwards ; terminal and 

 basal joints small, middle twice as long as either. Legs moderately stout, sliglitly pilose, with long brushes anteriorly on the 

 tibise and each joint of the tarsi ; two small apical spurs on tibiae of 2nd and posterior pairs. Larva thick, elongate, depressed 

 along the back, truncated at the ends, and viscous underneath, with fleshy spine-shaped projections, principally laterally, and armed 

 above with retractile-rayed processes capable of stinging ; head small, retractile. Peet obsolete. Cocoons coriaceous, provided 

 with lids, and attached to branches. 



SPECIES 1.— DORATIOPHORA LEWINL— (Plate VI.) tv^ ■ 



Mr Duncan has constituted this group into a new genus entirely on account of that peculiar process which the caterpillars 

 bear on the upper portions of their bodies, capable of inflicting wounds of an irritating character ; a distinctive peculiarity 

 probably of sufficient weight in itself to authorise their separation from the Limacodes ; altliough not backed by other well 

 defined generic characteristics. We possess four DoratiophoKB and two Apodaj, the former of course witli the larvse bearing 

 the stinging apparatus, the latter innocuous ; whose habits, metamorplioses, and anatomical details arc so nearly similar, that it 

 would be difficult to part them, without, indeed, having recourse to this one especial distinction. Pour varieties of outlines will 

 be seen in plate 6, graduating from the tuberculated and wounding larva, to that of tlie onisciform and harmless Apodii, and 

 however widely these caterpillars may vary in their form, it is nevertheless palpable that in the structure and anatomy of the 

 imago so close a resemblance exists as must necessarily cause difB.culty and confusion in their arrangement. 



Lewin, in 1803, was the first to draw attention to the metamorphoses of this Australian group of the Limacodidaj, and in 

 acknowledgment of this fact, and in testimony to the general correctness of his delineations and descriptions in Natural History, 

 we affix his name to the first species of Doratiophora figured by us. 



We liave invariably found the caterpillars of this species during the summer months feeding upon the leaves of the Euca- 

 lyptus, and we consider them as by no means rare. About Ij inch in length ; they are somewhat elongated, thick, obtuse at the 

 extremities, and flattened on the upper surface ; the general colour is bright green, ornamented above on the anterior and posterior 

 portions with lozenge-shaped rose-coloured marks edged interiorly by black, and connected by two rows of rose-coloured tubercles 

 along the back, the middle ones being small. On the thorax are four small openings or slits, with rose-coloured edges, from whicli 



