176 
MICROLEPIDOPTERA OE UEW GUINEA 
still more scanty in the Oriental region where they developed endemic 
genera; however, the family is extremely rich in South and Central 
America. The present knowledge of the taxonomy of these uniform insects 
is rather unsatisfactory and a revision of the genera is badly needed. 
As far as is known at present, the Australian Agriophara is exogenic in 
New Guinea, but further discoveries may prove that it has a firm foothold 
also in the Papuan region. Two genera from the Central Region were 
described as new in the present paper. 
The Orneodidae are represented by the cosmopolitan Orneodes. It is 
not surprising that this extremely plastic genus has developed endemic 
species in the Central Region, six of which were collected. 
The Oecophoridae, the third largest family of the Microlepidoptera, 
is very numerous in Australia, although less abundant there than the 
Gelechiidae. The material of the Expedition is more variegated than that 
of the latter family, but equally limited. Hypercattia has an almost cos- 
mopolitan distribution but is represented in every country where it occurs 
by a few species only, except for South America, were it is numerous; one 
endemic species has been collected in the Araucaria Camp. Seven apodemic 
genera collected all are of Australian origin, where several of these have 
acquired a rich development, e.g., Cormolypa, Ocystola and Machaeritis. 
Tonica is the only genus that was recorded also from the Oriental region, 
apparently its place of origin ; however, it occurs also in Australia. Endemic 
genera in the collection amount to four. According to these indications 
we may conclude that in the Central Region the Oecophoridae form the 
Australian element par excellence. 
The Heliodinidae make an exactly opposite impression, three 
apodemic genera being of Indo-Malayan origin, and a fourth, oc- 
curring in the Moluccas, the Philippines, and the Solomon Islands, but 
none being Australian. The material, however, is too scanty for definite 
conclusions. This is the more the case with the family Aegeriidae. 
The Clyphipterygidae, a group of mostly diurnal, often brilliantly 
coloured species, is poorly represented in the collection. However, one 
monotypical endemic genus, Polygiton, is very interesting, as it belongs 
to the recently defined subfamily Hvpertrophinae, and is its first repre- 
sentative outside the Australian continent and Tasmania. 
The Scythridae and the Elachistidae, hitherto not recorded from 
New Guinea, are represented by one and by two genera, respectively; two 
of these are cosmopolitan, and the third genus, belonging to the Elachisti- 
dae, strangely enough, has a Palaeo- and Nearctic distribution. We will 
return to this genus when discussing the Alpine fauna. 
The Yponomeutidae, except for a few genera, seem to be insuffi- 
ciently known from New Guinea, and in future we expect many discoveries. 
The most important genus for our discussion is Lactura, which counts not 
less than 43 gaudy crimson and yellow coloured endemic species from the 
Papuan region. It is also richly developed, but somewhat less numerous 
