250 
XANTHORHOE. By L. B. Prout. 
subobscuratn. 
clandestina. 
umbrosa. 
cedrinodes. 
undulata. 
episema. 
ida. 
dissimilis. 
chionogram ¬ 
ma . 
camelias. 
periphaea . 
chlorocapna . 
semisignata. 
X. subobscurata Walk. (= ascotata Feld., petropola Meyr.) (25 b). One of the largest Xanthorhoe, further 
recognizable by its grey colour and almost solid dark border; darker beneath, the forewing with white apex. 
Not common, Otira River, Bold Peak, Queenstown, etc. 
X. clandestina Philpott (25 b). Much smaller (35 mm), similarly coloured, but without the admixture 
of ochreous and whitish scales; blue-grey, with the lines faintly darker, no dark terminal band; cell-mark of 
forewing rather elongate, dark. Arthur's Pass, the type a <$. 
X. umbrosa Philpott (25 b). Varies from 33 to 40 mm. Antennal pectinations moderate. Termen of 
forewing waved, of hindwing rounded, crenate. At once distinguished from the other greenish New Zealand 
species by its much larger size. Underside grey, with similar markings, paler and rather sharply marked on the 
hindwing. Mount Cleughearn, Hunter Mountains, at about 3250 feet; CS common at flowers of Dracophvllum 
longifolium, $ rare. 
X. cedrinodes Meyr. (25 b) approaches umbrosa in size and shape, but has the forewing brown, the post¬ 
median of the hindwing more strongly sinuous. Pectinations quite short. The type is a mountain form: Mount 
Arthur tableland (type), Mount Cook, Bluff, Invercargill, Stewart Island. — ab. undulata Philpott, described 
from Tisbury (Invercargill) has the median band of the forewing almost obsolete, a large irregular dot at the 
base of the 2nd median and conspicuous blackening of the 3rd radial and the medians as far as the postmedian 
line. I have a similar <$ from Queenstown. - episema subsp. nov. (25 a) is, according to Hudson, the lowland 
form, found around Dunedin, lighter and brighter, yellow brown with the basal patch and median band rich 
chocolate brown. Type and others in my collection, from Flagstaff Hill, Dunedin. 
X. (?) ida Clarke (25a). Venation of hindwing not given, so I leave it provisionally here; its shape 
begins slightly to approach that of dissimilis but the warm colouring and the pattern are entirely different. 
Pectinations very long. Forewing brown, median band not sharply differentiated, its outer central lobe weak; 
a more reddish band between postmedian and subterminal. Hindwing pale ochreous, weakly marked; sub- 
terminal macular. Eweburn Stream, near Mount Ida, Central Otago. A remarkable $ from Motupiko River, 
Nelson, is assigned to this species as a striking variety and said to differ in having the posterior half of the 
median band of forewing occupied by a conspicuous white blotch and tHe terminal area of the hindwing some¬ 
what streaked brown; analogous to a form of variation found in some New Zealand Chloroclystis species. 
X. dissimilis Philpott (25 c). Readily distinguishable by the wing-shape and markings, the hindwing 
recalling Xyridacma veronicae (p. 136). Described from Ben Lomond. My specimens are from Queenstown and 
Arthur's Pass. 
X. chionogramma Meyr. (25 a). Pectinations of the <§ rather long and widely spaced. Forewing rather 
broad, coloration nearly as in cedrinodes ; the broad median band not sharply defined proximally, distally bounded 
by a very characteristic white line from costa to the projection at 3rd radial. Under¬ 
side more strongly marked. Founded on 2 CS which were collected in a wooded gully on Mount Hutt. Our 
figure is from an Egmont C. Further distributed in the mountains from the Tararua Range to Wakatipu. 
X. camelias Meyr. (25 a). Smaller than chionogramma, costa of forewing still more arched distally, 
termen markedly sinuate, the white postmedian mark wanting, etc. Pectinations shorter. Whangarei, Otira. 
River, etc., the type a $ from the first-named locality. 
X. periphaea Meyr. (25 a). Wings longer and narrower than in the two preceding, pectinations much 
as in chionogramma. Another rather inconspicuous brown species, but the white dots and dashes, chiefly on 
the veins, are well noticeable. Lake Wakatipu district, not common. 
X. chlorocapna Meyr. (25 c). <$, 24—26 mm. Palpus long. Pectinations very long. ‘‘Very distinct; 
the nearest New Zealand species is perhaps periphaea'' (Meyrick). As is shown by our figure, the dark smoky 
wings, with only the fringes and on the forewing some costal spots pale, give it a distinctive appearance. Under¬ 
side with the double pale costal mark outside the postmedian stronger and with a corresponding rather broad 
pale band on tlie hindwing. Hindwing with the 2nd radial from about the centre of the discocellulars; scarcely 
a true Xanthorhoe. Chatham Islands. 
X. semisignata Walk. (=- punctilineata Walk., dissociata Walk., similisata Walk., corcularia Guen., 
cinerearia part. Meyr. olim, nec Walk.) (25 c). Larger than the similar Larentia species which were at one time 
confused with it and with more joints of the antenna pectinate (about 28, against 21 or 22 in them); the same 
characters, as well as the tone of colour, separate it from the only similar New Zealand Xanthorhoe (see plumbea 
below). It is therefore really an unmistakable species and by no means so variable as to justify the long syn¬ 
onymy. Widely distributed in both islands, from sea level up to 3000 feet. 
