On account of their large size and beautiful colouration the wood moths have attracted a great deal of attention; Scott figured and described a number in his “Australian Lepidoptera,” part of which has been published by the trustees of the Australian Museum N.S.W. Meyrick published a revision of the family (Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. 1889), which is much more satisfactory, and has been followed in these notes. The moths, which Meyrick considers to be the ancestral forms of the _Bombycina_, have a world wide distribution, and are well represented in Australia. Donovan in his “Insects of New Holland” described one under the name of _Hepialus australasiae_, which is now known as _Perissectis australasiae_. With outspread wings it measures up to 3½ inches across; the body and fore wings are of a general dark yellowish colour, marbled and mottled with dark brown, and the hind wings have a reddish tint. The Genus _Porina_ contains 8 described species from this country; others are recorded from New Zealand and Africa; they are smaller moths of a general brown, yellow, or grey tint. The Genus _Hepialus_ comprises a number of very beautiful moths with all kinds of delicate green, yellow, pink, and silvery shades of colour. The moth lays her eggs upon a tree stem; the newly hatched larva eating off the surface of the bark forms a matted web under which it bores into the centre of the branch, and then makes a vertical shaft downward, varying in length from a few inches to several feet, in which it feeds and pupates. The best method to obtain specimens of these moths is to collect the infested branches or stems, cutting them off a foot or more on either side of the silken webs (which often form a regular ring round the stem), and placing them in several inches of damp sand in a box, with a sheet of glass over the top. The wood thus dries slowly and does not damage the delicate pupae or larvae from which, if collected at the proper time, the perfect moths of several species will readily breed out. The males and females of the same species differ from each other in size, colour and markings. [Illustration: Plate XXIII.--LEPIDOPTERA. Family HEPIALIDAE. _Leto staceyi_ (Scott). (Original photo. Burton.)] [Illustration: _Plate XXIII.--LEPIDOPTERA._] Lewin’s wood-moth, _Hepialus lewini_, is one in which the sexes are very different. The larger female measures 2½ inches across the wings; the fore pair, head, and thorax are dull claret red, mottled on the centre and tips of the wings with green; the hind pair dull yellow, with a pinkish tint. In the male, the head, thorax, and fore wings are pale green, the latter banded with opaline white; the hind pair of a paler green with white tints. This is one of our common species, and feeds in the stems of the Casuarina.