X.—THE GEOMETRIDAE. 145 
The expansion of the wings is from 14 to 1 inches. The 
fore-wings of the male vary from pale ochreous to rich brown 
or dark brownish-black; there is a jagged transverse line near 
the base; a large black or white discal spot; a doubly curved 
transverse line without dentations beyond the middle, then a 
very jagged transverse line, followed by several paler markings, 
and an obscure subterminal line. The hind-wings are paler in 
colour; there is a slightly curved transverse line near the base; 
a jagged line near the middle, and a very faint line beyond the 
middle. The termen of both fore- and hind-wings is slightly 
indented. The female varies from pale ochreous to dark slate- 
colour; the markings resemble those of the male, but the termen 
of the wings is more indented. 
This species is so extremely variable that a more 
detailed description would be useless; its numerous forms 
are, however, best recognised by the unbroken jagged trans- 
verse lines of both fore- and hind-wings. 
The eggs are laid in adherent clusters of three or four 
up to a dozen. They are very pale green, cylindrical, 
covered with reticulating rows of hexagonal depressions. 
The micropyle is apparently surrounded with irregular 
hexagons. 
The larva is quite as variable as the perfect insect. 
When very young it is bright green, with a conspicuous 
white dorsal line; as age advances the caterpillar becomes 
dark olive-brown, sometimes striped with paler brown or 
green, whilst many specimens retain the green colouring 
throughout the whole of their lives. The favourite food- 
plant is the kawa-kawa (Macropiper excelsum), which the 
larvae voraciously devour, and, with the native slugs, cause 
the riddled appearance which the leaves of that plant 
These larvae often select a 
forked twig to rest in, where they lie curled round, with 
almost invariably present. 
the head and tail close together. Other foodplants are 
Aristotelia racemosa and Myrtus bullata. Those eater- 
pillars found on the latter plant are strongly tinged with 
pink, and are consequently very inconspicuous amongst the 
young shoots, where they generally feed. The burrows of 
the larvae of Hepialus virescens are frequently utilised by 
the caterpillars, which feed on the Aristotelia, as convenient 
retreats during the winter. When full-grown these cater- 
pillars descend to the ground and construct loose cocoons 
of silk and earth on the under sides of fallen leaves. The 
moth usually emerges in about a month’s time, but the 
autumnal larvae either hybernate or remain in the pupa 
state throughout the winter. 
The perfect insect appears from October till April. 
It also 
occurs in great abundance on the white rata blossoms in 
It frequents forest and is extremely common. 
the autumn, and specimens may be occasionally seen even 
in the depth of winter. 
K 
SELIDOSEMA DEJECTARIA. 
(Boarmia dejectaria, Walk., Cat. xxi., 394; Boarm.a attracta, 
Walk., Cat. xxi., 394; Boarmia exprompta, ib., 395; Teph- 
rosia patularia, ib., 422; Butl., Cat. N.Z. Lep. pl. iii., 8; 
Tephrosia scriptaria, Walk. Cat., xxi., 422. Scotosia erebi- 
nata, ib. xxv., 1358; Scotosia stigmaticata, ib., 1359; 
Scotosia lignosata, ib., 1361; Gnophos pannularia, Guen., 
Ent. Mo. Mag. v., 42; Scotopteryx maoriata, Feld. Reis. 
Nov. pl. cxxvi., 4; Hemerophila (?) sulpitiata, ib., 7; 
Hemerophila caprimulgata, Feld., ib., 12, Boarmia deject- 
aria, Meyr., Trans. N.Z. Inst. xvi., 100.) 
(Plate XVIL., fig. 24 @; 25, 26 9 varieties; Frontispiece fig. 19 
egg.) 
This large insect is very common, and generally distri- 
buted throughout the country. It has also occurred at 
Stewart Island. 
The expansion of the wings is from 14 to 2 inches. The 
fore-wings vary from pale ochreous to very dark rich brown; 
there is an oblique transverse line near the base, sometimes 
enclosing a slightly darker basal patch; a dark brown discal dot 
surrounded by a ring; a very oblique, wavy, transverse line 
beyond the middle, often double towards the dorsum, and several 
irregular markings on the termen; there is often a white spot 
on the middle of the termen, and a pale apical patch. The hind- 
wings resemble the fore-wings in colour; there are one or two 
obscure transverse lines near the base, generally forming 2 
darker basal patch; a wavy line near the middle, and a strongly 
shaded subterminal line. The termen of both the wings is 
indented, the depth of the indentations varying greatly in dif- 
ferent specimens, 
This insect is very variable, but its large size and very 
oblique transverse lines on the fore-wings suffice to dis- 
tinguish it from the allied species. 
The egg is slightly under one-thirty-second of an inch 
in leneth, oval, rather irregular in shape, rich dark green, 
covered with very large hexagonal depressions; at each 
of the angles of each hexagon there is a minute brilliant 
white point. The eggs are deposited in irregular batches, 
loosely fixed together and loosely attached to the object on 
which laid. As development progresses the egg becomes 
dark reddish-brown but the bright points remain unchanged 
and give the egg a very brilliant spangled appearance. 
The larva feeds on a great variety of shrubs, mahoe 
(Melicytus ramiflorus), white rata ( Metrosideros scan- 
dens), fuchsia (Fuchsia excorticata) , ‘lawyer’? (Rubus aus- 
tralis), tutu (Coriaria), supplejack (Rhipogonum scan- 
dens) and poro-poro (Solanum aviculare) being amongst 
the number. The caterpillar may usually be recognised 
by a large hump, which is situated on each side of the 
third segment. Its colouring appears to be so entirely 
influenced by its surroundings that a description is impos- 
sible. For instance, larvae taken from the pale green 
foliage of the mahoe resemble in colour the twigs of that 
plant; others captured feeding on the white rata are dark 
reddish-brown, those from Solanum aviculare are purplish 
slate-colour, whilst those from the fuchsia are pale olive- 
green tinged with brown, like the sprouting twigs. 
This larva may be found plentifully during the whole 
of the summer and early autumn. It is most troublesome 

