Zoology.'] NATURAL HISTORY OF VICTORIA. [Insects. 



Posterior wing small, very acute at the point, with a deep sinus in posterior margin from anal 

 portion, which extends into a prominent rounded lobe ; one superior vein ; discal areolet divided 

 by a forked vein ; lower discoid (y) unites into a fork with the third branch of the median (3 C ) ; 

 submedian and internal veins distant, curved parallel. 



Female. — Short, cylindrical, soft, nearly naked, without wings; eyes small; legs very 

 minute ; antennas very short, unjointed ; last two joints of abdomen slightly pilose. 



Case for larvae and female elongate fusiform, of strong silk within and added twigs on 

 outside. 



Description. — Male. — Wings sooty-black, slightly hyaline, veins testaceous ; 

 anterior half of thorax, head and breast, end of abdomen, under side of last 5 ab- 

 dominal joints, and a narrow margin to the hinder abdominal segments fulvous 

 orange ; rest of thorax and abdomen velvety-black ; front of head, antennae, and 

 legs blackish-brown, the anterior legs banded with fulvous orange. Length when at 

 rest, about 11 lines (but capable of extending the abdomen to nearly 2 inches); from 

 tip to tip of anterior wings, 1 inch 10 lines; pectinated portion of antennae nearly 2 

 lines, serrated apical portion slightly less. There are about 15 branches on one side 

 and 18 on the other on the bipectinate portion of each antenna, and about 19 ser- 

 rated joints beyond. 



Female. — Pale brownish cream-color, head and thoracic segments light-brown, 

 fleshy, smooth, the last two or three joints fringed with scanty hairs ; legs very 

 minute, antennae nearly obsolete, scarcely visible to the naked eye. Length, about 

 1 inch 6 lines; width, about 5 lines. 



Larva. — Head and thoracic segments black, mottled with pale testaceous brown ; 

 rest of body dull hazel-brown. Length of female, about 2 inches; width, 5 lines. 

 Male similar, but about one-third less. 



Case. — Fusiform, of tough brownish-grey silk set with numerous irregular rows 

 of rather distantly separated subalternate small twigs, rather less than 1 line in 

 diameter, and varying from \ inch to 1 inch in length, except at the posterior end, 

 where several of them are 3 or 4 inches long. Length of case of male, about 4 inches; 

 greatest widtli at middle, about 9 lines. Female case, one-third larger. 



Reference. — Oihetieus elongatus (Saunders), Tr. Ent. Soc, v. 5, p. 43; = 

 Oiheticus Saundersi (Westw.), Proc. Zool. Soc. 1854, p. 223, t. 35. 



The larvae and cases of this species far exceed any of the others 

 in size, and when, as last year, they are unusually abundant they 

 attract the attention of the most incurious observer. The larvae 

 are found indifferently not only on a great variety of native trees, 

 but on a singular variety of imported foreign trees and shrubs in 

 the gardens round Melbourne. The size of the Victorian specimens 

 is slightly less than that of the New South Wales examples, but I 

 do not think there is any specific difference. 



Explanation of Figures. 



Plate 40. — Fig. 1, male, natural size. Fig. 2, male larva, with case, natural size. Fig. 3, 

 larva of female, viewed from above, natural size. Fig. 4, ditto, side view, removed from case. 

 Fig. 5, outline of anterior wing, magnified, to show the different veins lettered and numbered 

 as in the above generic character. Fig. 6, one of the antennae, magnified, to show the wide bipec- 

 tinate basal half and narrow serrated distal half. 



[ 44] 



