
152 
the gnarled stem and branches of which were covered with 
grey lichens and mosses was mottled with the most beautiful 
shades of greenish-grey. Other foodplants are tawa 
(Beilschmiedia tawa), tutu (Coriaria), and Cupressus 
macrocar pa. 
During the day this larva rests quietly attached to 
the stem of its foodplant, where it is very difficult to 
detect, as the filaments so closely embrace the twig or tree- 
trunk that the whole insect exactly resembles a swelling in 
the bark. 
The pupa is enclosed in a loose cocoon on the surface 
of the ground. 
The perfect insect appears about September, and con- 
tinues in more or less abundance until the end of April. 
There are most likely several broods in a season, and, as 
we frequently meet with specimens of the moth on mild 
days in the middle of winter, it’ evidently hybernates. 
This insect is usually observed at rest on fences and 
tree-trunks, where its grey mottled colouring causes it to 
closely resemble a patch of lichen. 
Owing to its extreme variability, in both the larval 
and imago states, this species would form an excellent sub- 
ject for experiments in heredity. 
DECLANA FEREDAYI. 
(Declana feredayi, Butl. Proce. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1877, 398, pl. xliii. 
5; Declana sinuosa, Philp., Trans. N.Z. Inst., xlvii., 197.) 
(Plate XVIII., figs. 20, 21 @ varieties; 22 9). 
This species, which is extremely closely allied to 
Declana floccosa, was rediscovered by the late Mr. M. O. 
Pasco on Ben Lomond, Lake Wakatipu, at an elevation 
of about 3,000 feet above the sea-level. Mr, Philpott has 
also taken it on Mount Cleughearn at the same altitude, 
and Mr. Grimmett on Mount Arthur (Nelson). I also 
detected it on Mount Ruapehu in the North Island, and 
it has been found by Dr. Myers at York Bay, Wellington 
Harbour. 
The expansion of the wings is about 13 inches. It differs 
from Declana floccosa in the following respects: The thorax in 
the male has a median crest, usually of darker colour than the 
rest of the body, and a slight crest is present in the female; the 
minute stripes on the costa are longer; the first line is further 
from the base, slightly inwardly oblique and almost straight, - 
the second line is indented above and below the middle and the 
costal edge is strongly arched at the base and widely sinuate to 
the apex. 
There is great variation and dark grey, or grey and 
rusty-reddish forms, are not infrequently met with. 
The perfect insect appears from October till February, 
and may be looked for in sub-alpine forests. 
DECLANA HERMIONE. 
(Declana hermione, Huds., N.Z. Moths, 98, pl. x., 36.) 
(Plate XVIL., fig. 19.4.) 
This interesting species has been taken at Wellington. 
Lake Wakatipu, Orepuki and Invercargill. 

X.—THE GHOMETRIDAE. 
The expansion of the wings is 14 inches. The fore-wings 
are light purplish-brown, clouded with silvery-white towards the 
middle and on the termen; there is a very fine oblique chocolate- 
brown mark at the base, a broad broken transverse band at 
about one-eighth; a fine curved, slightly waved transverse line 
at about three-fourths, shaded towards the termen; there are 
four wavy brown marks on the termen inclining obliquely up- 
wards towards the costa; the termen itself is narrowly edged 
with chocolate-brown. The cilia are silvery mixed with brown; 
the termen is very strongly bowed. The hind-wings are grey, 
shaded with purplish-grey towards the termen; the cilia are 
grey. 
The perfect insect appears from October till March, 
and is attracted by sugar and light. It is a very rare 
species, although apparently commoner at Orepuki than 
elsewhere. 
DECLANA JUNCTILINBA. 
(Declana junctilinea, Walk., Cat. xxxii., 643; Chlenias: verrucosa, 
Feld., Reis. Nov. pl. cxxxi., 22.) 
(Plate XVIII., figs. 11¢, 12 9 North Island form; 13 ¢, 14 9 
South Island form; Plate II., fig. 27 larva.) 
This species has occurred oceasionally at Wellington, 
in the Botanical Gardens. It is plentiful on the lower slopes 
of Mount Egmont, and has also been found at Blenheim, 
Nelson, Paradise at the head of Lake Wakatipu, and in the 
Invereargill District. 
The expansion of the wings is about 14 inches. The fore- 
wings of the male are pale brown, with two indistinct, irregular, 
transverse darker lines near the base, a conspicuous curved line 
a little beyond the middle, followed by a blackish patch; there 
is a series of very fine parallel oblique brown stripes on the 
costa, several series of curved, blackish marks near the termen, 
and on the central portions of the wing, and a conspicuous, 
irregular white streak from the apex towards the dorsum. The 
fore-wings of the female are much greyer, the central portions 
of the wing are white, and, with the exception of the fine, 
oblique costal stripes and apical streak, the other markings of 
the male are usually absent. The hind-wings of both Sexes are 
dull ochreous. The strongly pectinated antennae of the male, 
and the oblique costal markings of both sexes, will at once dis- 
tinguish this species from any of the varieties of Declana 
floccosa. 
There is considerable variation in the shape of the 
second line on the fore-wings of the male, and in the depth 
of the colouring in both sexes. South Island specimens 
are slightly larger, and the males generally much darker, 
than those from the North Island. In these males the 
first and second lines on the fore-wings are broadly shaded 
with dark brown, and the entire wing more or less sprinkled 
with blackish-grey marks. The terminal half of the hind- 
wings is clouded with dark grey. The South Island female 
has the fore-wings more or less clouded with grey and the 
hind-wings white with a faint grey terminal shading. 
The egg closely resembles that of Declana floccosa. 
The young larva when first excluded from the egg is about 
three-sixteenths of an inch long, dark brownish-red with a very 
broad creamy-white lateral line and a few scattered black 
bristles. 
The length of the full-grown larva is about 2 inches. It 
is cylindrical, tapering towards the head, which has two blunt 
