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182 XI—THE PYRALIDAE. 
the middle, a fine wavy central line and a very broad blackish. 
band on termen from the apex to about 3}. 
The larva feeds on nettles (Urtica ferox and U. incisa) 
as well as on Australina pusilla. It lives during the. spring 
and early summer joining two or three leaves together with 
silken threads and feeding within. Like most Pyrale lar- 
vae it has a glassy appearance. Its general colour is dull 
white, becoming greenish on the dorsal surface. There is 
a strong clear white sub-dorsal line, and a fainter white 
lateral line. The head is pale ochreous with a very con- 
spicuous broad brown blotch on each side as well as a few 
dots of the same colour. The larva is armed with a few 
black bristles. Its length when full-grown is about § inch. 
The pupa is enclosed between joined leaves, the insect 
remaining in this condition for about a month. 
The perfect insect appears from October till March, 
and is usually common wherever its food-plants are found. 
Genus 9.—PROTEROECA, Meyr. 
Forehead with slight conical prominence. Antennae #, in 
@ fasciculate-ciliated. Labial palpi porrected, clothed with long 
rough projecting hairs, terminal joint pencillate, partially con- 
cealed. Maxillary palpi filiform, apex penicillate: Tibial outer 
spurs more than half inner. (Plate D., fig. 49 head of Proteroeca 
comastis.) ; 
Contains only the following species. 
PROTEROECA COMASTIS. 
(Proteroeca comastis, Meyr., Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond., 1884, 335.) 
(Plate XIX, fig. 25 @.) 
This rather bright-looking little insect has been taken 
at Lake Rotoiti (Nelson), Christchurch, Castle Hill, Wed- 
derburn (Central Otago) and New River, near Invercargill. 
The expansion of the wings is slightly under ? inch. The 
fore-wings are yellowish-brown, becoming dark reddish-brown 
beyond the second line; the first line is dark reddish-brown, fine 
wavy and oblique, not touching the costa; the reniform 
is rather obscure dull grey; between the reniform and 
the second line there is a much paler band, broader towards 
the dorsum and not reaching the costa; the second line is very 
oblique slightly waved dark brown or black, followed by a broad 
dark brown or blackish shading; there is a broad terminal band 
of pinkish-brown and a conspicuous series of terminal black dots. 
The hind-wings are bright yellow, with a. fine wavy black central 
line and a broad blackish terminal shading; there is a terminal 
series of black dots, the cilia of all the wings are pinkish-brown 
with a dark brown shading at the base. 
Considerable variation exists in the depth of the gen- 
eral colouring, as well as in the extent of the dark mark- 
ings, thus some specimens appear much darker and duller 
than others. 
The perfect insect appears from October till January, 
and frequents open country, ascending mountains to about 
2,000 feet. It is a rare species. 
Genus 10—HELIOTHELA, Guen. 
9 
Antennae less than %. Labial palpi porrected, second joint 
with dense projecting scales beneath, longer towards apex, ter- 
minal joint exposed, stout. Maxillary palpi not much shorter 
than labial, expanded with scales towards apex, truncate. Tibial 
outer spurs half inner. Hind-wings with lower margin of cell 
more or less clothed with loose hairs towards base, but without 
defined pecten. (Plate D., fig. 48 head of Heliothela erebopis.) 
A small genus of early type, containing at present two 
European species, one Indian ranging into Australia and 
Madagascar, three Australian, and one New Zealand 
species. 
HELIOTHELA EREBOPIS. 
(Orosana atra, Butl., Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1877, 404; Nyctarcha 
atra, Meyr., Trans. N.Z. Inst., xvii. 70; Heliothela erebopis, 
Meyr., Trans. N.Z. Inst., xlv., 41.) 
(Plate XIX., fig. 29 9.) 
This little species has occurred on the mountains at 
Castle Hill and Lake Wakatipu at elevations from 1,200 
to 5,000 feet above the sea-level. In the far south it occurs 
in dry open situations nearer the sea-level. 
The expansion of the wings is under 4 inch. The body and 
fore-wings are dull brownish-black, more or less speckled with 
white, with very indistinct black markings; there are one or two 
obscure spots near the base; the first line is slightly angulated; 
the! orbicular is small and distinct, the claviform absent and the 
reniform 8-shaped, generally very indistinct and separated from 
the second line by a pale spot; the second line is distinct and 
very strongly curved inwards below the reniform; the sub-ter- 
minal line is absent. The hind-wings are dark brownish-black, 
paler near the base and costa with a large blackish lunule. The 
cilia of all the wings are dark grey. On the underside of the 
fore-wings there are two distinct white spots between the second 
line and the base and there is a dull white costal blotch on the 
underside of the hind-wings containing a black lunule. Mr. Mey- 
rick considers that the markings of the under surface indicate 
the original type. 
This insect varies considerably in respect of the dis- 
tinetness of the pale and dark markings. 
The perfect insect appears in December and January. 
It frequents open grassy or rocky places on mountains, fly- 
ing in the hottest sunshine, when it is extremely agile and 
difficult to see. Although usually abundant in the loeal- 
ities it frequents it is not always an easy insect to obtain. 
This species was re-named erebopis in 1912 in order 
to avoid confusion with the European Heliothela atralis, 
the type of the genus. 
Genus 11—SCOPARIA, Haw. 
Antennae %. Labial palpi porrected, second joint with long 
dense projecting scales beneath, longer towards apex, terminal 
joint exposed. Maxillary palpi rather long, triangularly dilated 
with scales. Tibial outer spurs half inner. Hind-wings with 4 
and 5 connate or stalked. (Plate D., figs. 34, 35 neuration of 
Scoparia cyameuta; fig. 36 head of ditto.) 
A large genus, of world-wide distribution, but no- 
where very prominent except in New Zealand and the 
Hawaiian Islands, in each of which regions it is very num- 
erously developed; in New Zealand it has one hundred and 
four species, being the largest genus of Lepidoptera, and 
forming almost a twelfth of the whole lepidopterous fauna, 
and in the Hawaiian Islands it has about sixty species. Of 

