IX.—THE 
ramiflorus, where its colouring affords it most efficient pro- 
tection. The length of the full-grown larva is about 13 
inches. 
These larvae hybernate during the winter months, 
often secreting themselves in the burrows which have been 
made in the stems of the Melicytus by various species of 
They come abroad about the end of 
The pupa 
wood-boring insects. 
August, and are full grown early in October. 
state is spent’ in the earth. 
The perfect insect appears from October till April. 
It is often found at rest on tree-trunks in the daytime, 
where its beautiful green colouring causes it to closely 
resemble a patch of moss. It is freely attracted by sugar, 
and found abundantly on the flowers of the white rata, 
especially towards the end of the season. The appearance 
of the moth over such a prolonged period indicates a suc- 
cession of individuals, almost throughout the entire year, 
but it is not clear that there are two distinct broods in a 
season, although there is no doubt that the insect passes 
the winter in the larval state. 
The remarkable tuft of long hairs, on the underside 
of the fore-wings of the male, is the source of a very strong 
vanilla-like perfume, which scents the box in which the 
specimens are contained for more than a week after their 
death; the scent is excited more strongly, even in the dead 
specimen by stirring the tuft with a pin. 
Genus 15—MELANCHRA, Hiibn. 
Face without prominence. Antennae in male ciliated, or 
bi-pectinated with apex simple. Thorax clothed with hair and 
scales, with anterior and posterior crests. Abdomen with dorsal 
crests towards base. 
(Plate C., figs. 6, 7 neuration of Melanchra mutans.) 
A very large genus of universal distribution, but 
chiefly in temperate regions. We have no less than fifty- 
two species, some of which are very difficult to discrimin- 
ate. Of these, four are restricted to the North Island, 
thirteen to the South Island, and thirty-three occur in 
both islands. The two remaining species are confined to 
the Chatham and Auckland Islands respectively. 
MELANCHRA PICTULA. 
(Dianthoecia pictula, White, Tayl. New Zeal., pl. i. 3. Meterana 
pictula, Butl., Proc. Zool. Soe. Lond., 1877, 386, pl. xlii. 1. 
Mamestra pictula, Meyr., Trans. N.Z. Inst. xix. 18.) 
(Plate VIL, fig. 33 2.) 
This very handsome species has oceurred in the South 
Island at Lake Coleridge, Hunter River, North Otago, 
Macetown and on Ben Lomond, Lake Wakatiou, at an 
elevation of about 2,500 feet above the sea level. 
The expansion of the wings is about! 1} inches. The fore- 
wings are dark grey, very faintly tinged with purplish, the 
markings are yellowish-green margined with black, the reniform 
is large, oval, clear white, with a minute white dot above and 
below it, there is a series of conspicuous black-edged yellow 
spots near the termen; the cilia are grey barred with yellow, 
NOCTUIDAE. 63 
with a series of minute black and white dots at their origin. 
The hind-wings are pale crimson shaded with dark grey near 
the termen, there is an obscure grey discal spot; the cilia are 
grey. The sides of the abdomen are bright crimson. 
The perfect insect, appears from November till April, 
and may be taken at sugar, but is a very rare species. 
MELANCHRA RHODOPLEURA. 
(Mamestra rhodoplewra, Meyr., Trans. N.Z. Inst., xix. 19.) 
(Plate VII., fig. 32 4; Plate I., figs. 32, 33 larvae.) 
This very beautiful insect is commonest in the North 
Island where it has been taken at Auckland, Napier, Toka- 
anu and Wellington. Jn the South Island it has occurred 
at Claremont, North Canterbury. 
The expansion of the wings is about 14 inches. The fore- 
wings are dark greyish-green with very numerous yellow and 
black markings, the stigmata and transverse lines being clearly 
marked by chains of bright yellow and black spots. The hind- 
wings are dark grey, the cilia are also grey with a series of 
minute yellow dots. The sides of the abdomen are bright crim- 
son. 
This insect is very closely allied to Melanchra pictula 
but the absence of the white reniform spot and the grey 
hind-wings, will at once distinguish it from that species. 
The larva, which was discovered by Mr. R. M. Sunley,* feeds 
during the spring and early summer on Pimelea prostrata, a 
dwarf shrubby plant, often growing plentifully on the sea-beach, 
just above high-water mark. When full-grown it is a very hand- 
some caterpillar measuring about 14 inches in length, moderately 
stout! slightly attenuated at each end; its general colour is very 
dark rich velvety-green, darker on the back; there is a broad, 
white lateral line bordered above with black and beneath with 
yellow; a fine yellow sub-dorsal line; a conspicuous dorsal line 
splashed with yellow in the middle of each segment and finely 
edged with black; there are numerous black warts, each emitting 
a slender black' bristle; the dorsal portion of the larva is finely 
streaked with blackish. This larva is somewhat variable; one 
very beautiful variety is yellowish-green, with a broad white 
line, and bright yellow blotches down the mid-back; there is a 
dark olive-green subdorsal band, mottled with blackish; a fine 
bright yellow subdorsal line; a clear white lateral line, edged 
beneath with brilliant orange-red; the ventral surface of the 
larva is green tinged with orange, with a few black dots; the 
head is pale green with black dots, and the second segment 
much clouded with pale green. (Plate I., fig. 33.) 
The pupa is enclosed in a cocoon beneath the surface 
of the ground. 
The perfect imsect| appears in January, and is some- 
times met with as late as May, or even June. It seems 
to be a rare species, but might perhaps be more freely 
taken by systematic sugaring in the localities where its 
foodplant is abundant. 
MELANCHRA EXQUISITA. 
(Melanchra exquisita, Philp., Trans. N.Z. Inst., xxxv. 246, 
pl. xxxii. 2:) 
(Plate VIL a tiges daa...) 
This very beautiful little species was discovered by 
Mr. Philpott at West Plains, near Invercargill. It has 
also been found at Waiuku, Waitomo and Wanganui in 

*Trans, N.Z, Inst., xliii,, 129. 

