The perfect insect appears in November and December. It flies with incredible velocity at evening dusk, and is often observed hovering over flowers, and whilst poised in the air above them, extracts the honey with its long proboscis. Mr. A. P. Buller has very kindly furnished me with the following interesting notes on the habits of this species, as observed by him in the Auckland district:-- "During the summer of 1879 I came across _S. convolvuli_ in great numbers, near Ohinemutu, in the Hot Lake district, frequenting at dusk a tall, delicately perfumed meadow flower (_Oenothera biennis_, commonly called the evening primrose). They were to be seen on the wing soon after sundown, and on warm, still evenings literally swarmed. It was an extremely pretty sight to watch their rapid movements as they darted from flower to flower, never alighting, and keeping up a constant vibration of their wings as they probed the yellow blossoms. They appeared to be extremely local, for I only met with them on a few of the grassy slopes round the shores of Lake Rotorua. I visited the same locality two years later, at the same season, and only occasionally saw one, although the evening primrose was in full bloom at the time. In 1882 I captured several at flowers of the trumpet-tree (_Brugmansia_) in a garden near Auckland. The same summer I found large numbers of the larvæ at Waiwera (near Auckland), on a species of convolvulus growing in profusion on the sandhills in the vicinity. Although the larvæ were so abundant I never came across the perfect insect. I obtained some twenty or thirty of the pupæ, but unfortunately was never successful in hatching out the imago. As far as my knowledge goes, this beautiful moth is confined to the Auckland and Waikato districts, although I have heard of a single specimen being taken in Hawkes Bay." I am also much indebted to Mr. Buller for the loan of a very perfect specimen of this moth, expressly lent to me for figuring and describing in the present work. Mr. Meyrick informs us that this insect occurs throughout Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and the islands of the South Pacific, wherever a suitable situation is found, and has been met with far out at sea.[43] In America it is represented by a form which seems to be regarded as specifically distinct, but which he thinks is probably identical. If this be the case the insect is practically cosmopolitan. {101}III.--THE LASIOCAMPINA. Not represented in New Zealand. IV.--THE PAPILIONINA. The _Papilionina_ are distinguished by the following characters:--