





66 1X.—THE 
The perfect insect appears from October till May, and 
is occasionally taken at sugar. Specimens are sometimes 
noticed in the middle of winter, the insect hybernating as 
an imago during that season. It may also be found rest- 
ing on tree-trunks in the forest, where it is very hard to 
see owing to its close resemblance to a patch of moss. 
MELANCHRA PRAESIGNIS. 
(Morrisonia praesignis, Howes, Trans. N.Z. Inst., xliit. 128.) 
(Plate IX., fig. 12 9; 29 @; Plate XLVIIL, fig. 6 
pale variety.) 
This very handsome species was discovered by Mr. 
Howes at Orepuki. It has also occurred at Dunedin, Mace- 
town, Mount Cleughearn, and on Bold Peak, Lake Waka- 
tipu. 
The expansion of the wings is about 1§ inches. The fore- 
wings of the female are very rich chocolate-brown with bright 
green markings; the basal line is distinet, the first line wavy 
very strongly bowed; there is a large bright green patch in the 
middle of the dorsum; the claviform is marked by a distinct dark 
brown semi-circular line; the orbicular is large, nearly round, 
pale greenish; the reniform large, irregular whitish, with two 
minute white dots below it; the second line is pale greenish very 
jagged; the veins are dotted in white and grey; there is a very 
conspicuous, broad. bright green terminal band: the termen is 
wavy with dark chocolate-brown cilia. The hind-wings are very 
dark grey, slightly flushed with pinkish ochreous, darker towards 
the termen; the cilia are pinkish-ochreous.. In the male the fore- 
wings are warm brownish-ochreous, darker towards the base and 
the markings much less distinct than in the female. Both sexes 
seem to be variable, some examples being very much paler than 
others. 
The perfect insect appears from September till March, 
and is attracted by sugar. 
Described and figured from a female specimen kindly 
lent to me by Mr. Howes. 
MELANCHRA CHLORODONTA. 
(Morrisonia chlorodonta, Hamps. Ann, Mag. Nat. Hist., viii. 423.) 
(Plate IX., fig. 10 @.) 
This very beautiful and distinetly-marked species was 
discovered at the Cape Egmont lighthouse. It has also 
occurred at Nearuawahia, Taumarunui, on Mount Egmont, 
Ohakune, and at Eketahuna, near Wellington, but is 
evidently an extremely rare insect. 
The expansion of the wings is almost 1} inches. The fore- 
wings are very deep chocolate brown; a small basal patch, the 
lower half of the median band, the outer portions of all the stig- 
mata and a very strongly-toothed subterminal band are all vivid 
greenish-yellow; the first and second lines are finely marked in 
blackish-brown; there is a series of blackish terminal marks; 
the cilia are chocolate-brown finely barred with ochreous. The 
hind-wings are deep warm brown, darker towards the termen; 
the cilia are pinkish-brown. 
The perfect insect appears from February till April, 
and is attracted by light. 

NOCTUIDAE. 
Described and -figured from a specimen kindly lent to 
me by Mr. Howes. 
MELANCHRA MUTANS. 
(Hadena mutans, Walk., Cat. xi. 602; Morrisonia mutans, 
Hamps. Cat., v. 369, pl. xxxviii. 21; Hadena lignifusca, 
Walk., Cat., xi. 603; Xylina spurcata, ib., xi. 6381; Xylina 
verata, ib. xxxiii. 755; Mamestra angusta, Feld., Reis. Nov., 
pl. cix. 18; M. acceptriz, ib., pl. cix. 19; Hadena debilis, 
Butl. Proce. Zool. Soe. Lond., 1877, 385, pl. xlii. 6; Mamestra 
mutans, Meyr., Trans. N.Z. Inst., xix. 17.) 
(Plate VIII., fig. 18 @, 14 9; Plate IX., fig. 21 variety; 
(Plate I., fig. 27 larva.) 
This is an extremely abundant species throughout the 
country, and is found on Stewart Island. 
The expansion of the wings is about 13 inches. The fore- 
wings are pale reddish-brown in the male, grey in the female; 
the markings are black and somewhat indistinct; the orbicular 
spot is nearly round, the claviform semicircular, the reniform 
large and not margined with black towards the termen; the sub- 
terminal line emits on its outer edge a blunt tooth-like mark; 
inside this line the ground colouring of the wing is sometimes 
lighter; there is a rather conspicuous blackish streak just above the 
tornus and the veins are strongly dotted with blackish, especially 
towards the termen. The hind-wings are grey, darker in the 
male; the cilia are white with a cloudy line. The head, thorax, 
and abdomen are brown in the male, grey in the female. The 
antennae are slightly bipectinate in the male. 
This species varies much in the ground colouring of 
the fore-wings, especially in the male, where it ranges from 
pale pinkish-brown to dark brown. The wings of the 
female are frequently much clouded with dark grey. (See 
Plate TX, fig. 21). Specimens of the female from high 
altitudes are often more silvery in appearance than those 
from the lowlands, and this form has been recently 
described by Mr. Philpott, as a distinct species, under the 
name of Melanchra furtiva. (Trans. N.Z. Inst., LV., 663.) 
The larva is rather stout, with the anterior segments wrin- 
kled. It varies much in colour; the dorsal surface is usually 
reddish-brown; the lateral line is broad and black; a series of 
subdorsal stripes also black; the ventral surface is green. Some- 
times these markings are hardly visible, and the larva is entirely 
green, whilst occasionally the brown colouring predominates. 
It is a sluggish caterpillar, and feeds on low plants 
(Plantago, &c.) during the whole of the spring and 
summer. It often frequents the luxuriant growth sur- 
rounding logs and stones which have been left undisturbed. 
The pupa state is spent in the earth or amongst moss 
on fallen trees. When this stage occurs in the summer 
it is of short duration, but in the ease of larvae becoming 
full grown in the autumn, the regular emergence does not 
take place until the following spring. — 
The moth may be observed on mild evenings all the 
year round, but is commonest during the late summer and 
autumn. It is an extremely abundant species, and is very 
often seen resting on tree trunks during the daytime, in 
which position the colouring of both sexes will be seen to 
be very protective, 
