378 
TEARA. By Dr. E. Strand. 
oehrogutia. 
contraria. 
luc/ipcnnis. 
bcirnardi. 
E. ochrogutta H.-Schdff. (57 f). S' greyish black. Forewing with a pure white antemedian straight 
transverse band and a slightly curved postmedian band which is only half as broad and almost parallel to the 
margin; between them in a longitudinal row two red transverse spots, and the margin with 7 or 8 red punctiform 
spots. Hindwing quite unicoloured. Head and prothorax whitish, the black antennae basally reddish. The 
very much spread anal tuft is yellowish. Expanse of wings 25 mm. Australia. 
2. Genus: Teara Wkr. 
The Teara Wkr. (Ochrogaster Fldr.) are larger, with longer hair and more densely scaled than the 
Epicoma, and without the characteristic silvery white colouring on the forewings of some species of the latter 
genus. Antennae bipectinate, in the $ short, in the $ longer. Thorax clad with long projecting and bristly 
hair; the tiny palpi do not project from the hairing of the head. The legs excepting the tarsi are also clad with 
very long hair. Neuration: in the forewing 3 is twice as distant from 2 as from 4, and 4 twice as distant from 
5 as from 3; stalked are 6 + 7 + 8 + 9, and this stalk anastomoses with 10 between 6 and 7 (6 being nearest!), 
10 rises from the anterior edge of the cell near the apex, whereby a small areola is formed, from the posterior 
edge of which 6 rises; 8 and 9 are short and enclose the apex of the wing. Discocellular between 4 and 5 
towards the base convex. In the hindwing 8 is distinctly separated from 7, being divergent not far from the 
base of the wing reaching the apex of the wing, 6 + 7 are stalked, 5 is not much farther from 4 than from 6, 
whereas 3 is almost four times as distant from 2 as from 4. The discocellular is oblique. — The biology has 
been dealt with by W. W. Frogatt in Proc. Linn. Soc. N. S. Wales 1896, p. 258— 260 , t. XIV. According to 
this author the genus Teara is characterized by the larvae living in tan-coloured, silky, irregularly funnel- 
shaped bags which are spun around a strong branch, enclosing several of them, being outside smooth and 
regular, but inside rough. At the broad end they have a diameter of 70 —200 mm, and it is either quite open 
or only spun over with a few loose threads. These bags serve the larvae as a shelter in the daytime, whilst 
the larvae leave their nest at nightfall in order to feed at night and to return to their nest again at daybreak. 
They wander in the same way as our processionary caterpillars. These bags do not serve for the pupation and 
they are therefore abandoned by the grown-up larvae. 
T. contraria Wkr. (= lanifer H.-Schdff ., leucopyga Wkr., cinctifera Wkr.) (46 d). Brown. Hair on 
head and thorax with white tips. Antennae brownish-yellow. Abdomen orange reddish with blackish-brown 
bands, the ventral side blackish-brown, the apex white. Forewing above, hindwing beneath with a white 
discal spot. Length of body 15—20 mm, expanse of wings 41—65 mm. Sydney; Swan River. — The larva 
of T. contraria attains a length of 50 mm, it has a rusty reddish head covered with reddish brown hair, being 
above and on the sides black with white and reddish-brown hairs rising on protuberances, between the segments 
finely dotted white, the ventral side ochreous with dark rusty reddish protuberances. It lives in colonies of 
100 or more specimens; the nest-bag is fastened to the protected side of tree-trunks close at the ground, and 
single silk-threads extend from it all round the tree. Sometimes the larvae occur in such great numbers that 
they may become pernicious by the defoliation of the trees (Acacias etc.). Imported, almost adult larvae 
burrowed into the loose sandy ground of the breeding receptacle after two weeks and constructed a felt-like 
cocoon of the hair on their body, emerging from the end of September till November. Pupa short, stout, 
smooth, glossy, reddish-brown. The breeding is extremely difficult. — The size of the imagines varies consi¬ 
derably. 
T. luctipermis Wkr. $ brown. Head, thorax, chest and legs densely haired. Antennae ochreous, 
moderately long combed. Thorax with a white band which is slightly interrupted midway and strongly expanded 
on each side. Abdomen black, not projecting beyond the hindwings, the posterior margins of the abdominal 
segments and the anal wool ochreous. Tarsi black, the tips of the members white. Forewing dark grey, speckled 
with black; with two narrow slightly undulating bands, the first at the second at % of the length of the 
wing; ring-spot and reniform spot white, situate between the bands; margin very oblique and slightly rounded, 
under surface whitish-brown. Hindwing dingy white, on the long-fringed inner margin brownish. Length of 
body 16, expanse of wings 49 mm. Australia. 
T. barnardi T. P. Luc. 38 mm. — $ rusty reddish brown, thorax with creamy hair. Abdomen 
black, last segment and anal brush rusty reddish-brown. Forewing greyish-white with reddish-brown markings: 
a narrow subcostal line from the base to 4 / 5 , from the end of that line obliquely to the centre of the inner 
margin a broad band, from shortly before the apex of the wing, to 4 / 5 of the inner margin a band parallel 
to the distal margin, then a submarginal line which is connected with the second transverse band along the 
veins; fringe reddish-yellow. Hindwing greyish-brown with two darker bands parallel to the distal margin, 
marginal line darker with 8 creamy spots. The $ has ochreous fore wings slightly dusted with brown and with 
deep brown markings; the brown dusting forms a line on the costa from y 3 to the apex, and a shadow on the 
