36 
SPOLIA ZEYLANICA. 
Alucita candidalis, Wlk. 
Candidalis. —Wlk., Cat. XXX., 948 ; Meyr., T. E. S., 1907, 490 ; 
Wlsm., T. E. S., 1881, 282 ; 1. c., 1897, 36. 
Leucadactyla. —Wlk., Cat. XXX., 949; Moore, Lep. Ceylon, III., 
528, t. 209, f. 15. 
Distribution. —Kegalla, Labugama, Weligama, Kandy, Mas- 
keliya, .Haldummulla, Lunngala. 
In Ceylon this is apparently rather a low-country species and 
is not common. Outside of Ceylon its distribution extends from 
Sierra Leone and South Africa through India to the Philippines, New 
Guinea, and Queensland. 
The larva is unknown, but may be looked for on some species of 
Ipomcea. . _ 
Altjcita niveodactyla, Pag. 
Niveodactyla. —Pag., Zoologica, XXIX. 240; Meyr., T. E. S., 
1907, 490. 
Nivea. —Snellen, Tijd. Ent. XLVI., 56, t. 5, f. 17. 
Distribution. —Maskeliya (Coll, de Mowbray), Madulsima, Lunu- 
gala, Diyatalawa, Haputale. 
In Ceylon it is a scarce species, principally confined to the hill 
districts of Uva. 
Outside of Ceylon it has been recorded from Java, the Philip¬ 
pines, and the Bismarck Archipelago. 
Early Stages — Larva. —The larva feeds on the young leaves of an 
Ipomoea, eating the leaves from the outside and not entering within 
the unexpanded leaf in the manner of Steganodactyla concursa. In 
colour it is of a uniform pale yellowish-green thickly studded with 
long fasciculated tufts of whitish hairs, of which those of the dorsal 
row are the longest and sometimes tipped with brown. These 
hair-tufts are extremely complicated, and their appearance will be 
best understood from the rough sketch of a larval segment (Plate F., 
figure 9) ; under the microscope these tufts of long hairs recall the 
armature of spines exhibited by an Echinid, which is very common 
on rocks along the coast. 
Parasites. —An extremely large proportion of the larvae appears 
to be infested by a parasitic ichneumonid fly. 
Pupa. —The pupa is green, thickly covered with pale green spinous 
hairs and with an interrupted dorsal and sub-dorsal row of black 
spots. The moth emerges after about a week. 
Alucita melanopoda, Fletcher . 
(Plate A., figure 13.) 
Entom., 1907, 284. 
Distribution .—Kandy, Haragama, Madulsima 
Apparently a scarce species in Ceylon ; it has also been found in 
Assam. 
Early Stages> —Unknown. 
