I Aprit, 1898.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL: 309 
Argadesa materna, Linné (Plate XIX.., Figs. 2 and 3). In this insect the 
forewings are, externally, both arched and scalloped. They aré also greenish- 
_ grey, covered with olivaceous-brown or purple-brown, tranverse, confluent, 
diminutive stripes ; in the centre of the wing also are four purple-black spots 
(corresponding in position to the triangular dark-brown discal mark of O. 
Sullonica). he female (Fig. 3) is distinguished from the male in having 
the minute stripes of colouration of a deeper colour, and in exhibiting, also on 
the forewings, beneath the central dark spots, a conspicuous white bar that is 
directed obliquely outwards. 
In both sexes of the three insects the hindwings are orange-yellow with 
each a broad black marginal band and a black—usually half-moon shaped. 
central or discal large patch; the former including also a marginal row of 
white spots. In Argadesa materna this marginal band occupies a greater extent 
of the hindmargin of the wings than it does in the other insects ; moreover, the 
discal patch is rounded instead of being semilunar, as in their case, 
Tue Caterpronars (Plate XX.).—All three insects have caterpillars of 
similar cylindrical form, measuring two or more inchés in length—when fully 
grown. ‘They have the 11th segment of the body considerably humped. 
Otherwise they are quite even and smooth. ‘hey are unclothed, save for the 
presence of minute hairs. Like other Noctuw, they have each eight pairs of 
legs—viz., three thoracie clawed, and one terminal, and four intermediate 
unclawed ones—the anterior pair of the last group being rudimentary. In 
each case also the caterpillars vary in colour at different periods of their 
growth, but have in common two large spots or ocelli on either side of the 
body occupying nearly the entire breadth of the 6th and 7th segments. ‘These 
spots are very conspicuous, being white and often coloured with very marked. 
hues. 
In the case of Ophideres salaminia, the full-grown insect is, as stated by 
A. W. Scott, “ Tnnwatont of a deep rich velvety-black, minutely powdered with 
small spots of pale-blue and straw-coloured.” Moreover, the eye-spot or ocellus 
is very gaudy, “ possessing a black pupil with a blue centre, and an iris yellowish 
above and saturnine-red below.” Further, “the penultimate segment bears a 
reddish prominence, from which proceeds along each side a delicate tracery of 
white, resembling the fine fibrous roots of a plant.’ Examples of this caterpillar 
are also occasionally of a dull-reddish hue, and exhibit some variation as regards 
detail in the markings that they present. 
The caterpillars of Othreis fullonica (illustrated by photo-lithography on 
Plate XX.) are of shades of rich brown, varying greatly in intensity, in 
different examples, especially such as exhibit diverse ages. They have also 
numerous small creamy-white black-edged spots and bars, on the upper surface 
of the body, that tend to coalesce in places. The large eye-spots are, however, 
as a rule, far less gaily coloured than is the case in O. salaminia, being often 
wholly white and black. 
Tun Curysarts.—The chrysalis (Plate XXI., Fig. 2) is of a very dark- 
brown colour with usually a purplish cast. Itis somewhat roughened anteriorly. 
Its tail end is blunt, and at its opposite extremity it is obliquely truncated. 
That of O. salaminia may attain a length of nearly an inch.* 
RanGE or Occurrence.—All three insects have a widely extended range 
of occurrence beyond the confines of the Australian continent. 
Haztts.—The eggs are deposited upon the foliage of the plant or plants 
destined for the support of the caterpillars to which they give rise. 
* Coloured representations of the above-mentioned caterpillars and chrysalises, with more dr 
less full descriptions, are given by F. Moore in ‘‘The Transactions of the Zoological Society of 
London,” Vol. XL., Plate XII., Figs. 3, 3a, 36; and by the same authority in Vol. III, of the 
“Lepidoptera of Ceylon,” p. 134, and Plate 161 (1884), Similarly, O. salaminia is dealt with in 
A, W. Scott’s ‘Australian Lepidoptera and their Transformations,” Vol. II,, Part X., pp. 6-7; 
Plate XI, (1890). 
x 
