In this species the dorsal band is often considerably paler, but otherwise there is no variation. The perfect insect appears from November till April. It comes freely to sugar, and occasionally to light. It is also sometimes met with at rest on trees in the daytime, where its colouring is protective. I have noticed that this moth is much commoner in some years than in others. MELANCHRA PHRICIAS, Meyr. (_Mamestra temperata_, Meyr., Trans. N. Z. Inst. xix. 27 (nee Walk.). _Mamestra phricias_, Meyr., ib., xx. 46.) (Plate V., fig. 22.) This species has occurred in the Manawatu district in the North Island. In the South Island it has been found at Christchurch and Lake Coleridge. The expansion of the wings is about 1½ inches. _The fore-wings are pale silvery-grey_; there are several obscure blackish marks near the base, _two dark, shaded, transverse bands, one just before the orbicular, and one between the orbicular and the reniform_; the orbicular is round, nearly white, with a faint greyish ring in the middle; the reniform is large, oblong, margined first with white and then with black; there is a series of black crescentic marks near the termen, and another smaller series on the termen; the cilia are dark grey. The hind-wings are dull brownish-grey, the cilia are grey tipped with white. The terminal joint of the palpi is elongated. The perfect insect has been taken in December, February, March and June, and is attracted by light. It is rather a rare species. MELANCHRA CUCULLINA, Gn. (_Xylocampa cucullina_, Gn., Ent. Mo. Mag. v. 40. Agrotis mitis, Butl., Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1877, 383, pl. xlii. 5. _Mamestra cucullina_, Meyr., Trans. N. Z. Inst. xix. 28.) (Plate V., fig. 23 [M].) This species has occurred at Mount Arthur, and at Rakaia. The expansion of the wings is 1-3/8 inches. _The fore-wings are bluish-grey, speckled and dappled with blackish-brown_; there is a pale transverse line near the base, partially edged with black; the orbicular is round, containing a blackish dot in the middle; the reniform is elongate-oval, including a {28}dark spot in its lower portion; the space surrounding the stigmata is clouded with dark blackish-brown; there is a terminal series of small blackish crescentic marks, and the cilia are dark grey. The hind-wings are brownish-grey; the cilia are also grey tipped with white. This species is evidently closely allied to _M. phricias, but may at present be distinguished by its darker and more bluish colouring_. The perfect insect appears in January and March. I have taken it at light on the Tableland of Mount Arthur, at 3,600 feet above the sea-level. Genus 8.--ERANA, Walk.