Publ. 5. III. 1939. 
DASYSTERNICA. By L. B. Prout. 
245 
less yellow intermixture, but specially characterized by the obsolescence of the black lines on the underside 
of the hindwing, which are strongly marked in all South Island mechanitis. Mount Holdsworth, Tararua Ranges. 
4000 feet. 
N. anthracias Meyr. (24 e). Wings elongate, with somewhat sinuous distal margins and prominent anthracias. 
apices. Pectinations rather long. Ground-colour somewhat as in omichlias, but with whiter (bisected) band 
bounding the median area of the forewing. The $ considerably darker than the $. Found on open mountain¬ 
sides, from 2000 to above 5000 feet, South Island. 
N. incompta Philpott (24 g). Considerably larger than anthracias (26—31 mm), the markings less incompta. 
clearly defined. Hardly distinguishable in coloration from orphnaea (24 g) but easily separable by the rather 
short antennal pectinations of the and the lesser development of the hairs of the palpus. As the wings 
are described as “white, densely irrorated with black, especially on median band and terminal area 5 ’ and the 
underside grey-whitish, I suppose it is less extremely dark than most orphnaea (especially orphnaea q 1 <$) ; both 
species show brownish suffusions in places. Kepler Mountains, at about 3000 feet, 2 of each sex. Since found 
on Arthur's Pass and the Hunter Mountains. 
N. opipara Philpott (24 g). Expanse 18—21 mm. A very distinct species, probably nearest to orphnaea opipura. 
but very much smaller; from anthracias, to which it also shows some affinity, it is distinguished by its broader 
wings, darker colour, presence of reddish markings (though these are not always as strong as in the figured 
specimen) and longer hairs of the palpus. Underside fuscous, postmedian and on forewing basal half of costa 
broadly ochreous. Stewart Island: Table Hill and Rakiahua, 2000 feet, on open hilltops. 
N. orphnaea Meyr. (24 g). A large and rather shaggy species, the $ with long pectinations. The wings orphnaea . 
in this sex always very dark, at times almost black, so that the markings become quite weak; the $, as with 
anthracias, less dark. Fringes strongly chequered, blackish and white. Distributed locally in the mountains, 
3000 feet and upward. 
N. villosa Philpott (24 g). Expanse of <$ 35 — 38 mm; pectinations 2 mm, “their highest development villosa . 
[in Notoreas ], and it is significant that this is coincident with the semiapterous condition of the The 
q forewing is fight ochreous-brown, often densely irrorated with white, markings white, antemedian bent out¬ 
wardly near costa, then oblique inward, distally dark-edged, postmedian broad, oblique inward, bisinuate. 
dark-edged proximally, subterminal broad, waved; hindwing rather narrow, brownish fuscous, densely irro¬ 
rated with grey-whitish to %; one or two curved white fasciae beyond middle. $ 16 mm, wings oblong, narrow, 
apex of forewing subacute, termen and abdominal margin of hindwing slightly concave; white, minutely 
speckled with dark fuscous. (Abridged from Philpott.) South Island: The Hump (Waiau) and Hunter Moun¬ 
tains, common in well-grassed situations at 3000 to 4000 feet. Probably an offshoot of orphnaea. 
N. insignis Butl. (24 g). Strikingly distinct and needing no detailed description. The $ is considerably insigni . s . 
smaller and much paler than the figured <$. South Island especially the Lake Wakatipu district. The originals 
were perhaps from Castle Hill. Enys, according to Butler, took one at 6000 feet. 
N. synclinalis Huds. (24 h) is much smaller and darker and equally unmistakable in its wing-markings, synelinalis. 
It was described from near Invercargill and is apparently confined to the south-western coastal region, including 
Stewart Island. Common in suitable localities, inhabiting boggy country and the bare tops of some low hills. 
In the most exposed situations generally reduced in size. 
3. Genus: Dasysterniea Turn. 
Charcters of Dasyuris, except that the areole is simple. In callicrena, but apparently not in the geno¬ 
type tristis, the femora, in addition to breast and coxae, are hairy. Only 4 species are recognized as belonging 
here, the first from New Zealand the other 3 from Victoria and Tasmania; but in view of the occasional variability 
of the areole in the group (see I). bertha and Notoreas fulva) it is legitimate to question the ultimate validity 
of the present classification. 
D. callicrena Meyr. (24 h). Very distinct in its relatively large size, dark ground-colour and broad callicrena . 
whitish markings. Variation not important, though the subterminal may be either conspicuous or slight and 
a more proximal position of the postmeclian occasionally narrows the central area. New Zealand, distributed in 
the mountains of South Island, 3000—4000 feet. 
D. tristis Butl. (24 h). The smallest, darkest and most- obscurely marked of the genus, the hindwing tristis. 
elongate costally and on the upperside almost unicolorous, the median band of the forewing widening very 
little, the 4 fines marked by whitish dots on the costa, otherwise very weak or obsolescent. Victoria: Mel¬ 
bourne and a few other localities, not common. 
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