New Zealand Moths and Butterflies (Macro-Lepidoptera)Hudson, G. V. (George Vernon)
Science
New Zealand Moths and Butterflies (Macro-Lepidoptera)
Hudson, G. V. (George Vernon)
Lepidoptera -- New Zealand
{42}The expansion of the wings is ¾ inch. _The fore-wings are bright
green with numerous wavy darker lines._ There is a jagged transverse
black line near the base, two at about one-fourth, enclosing a rather
paler space; beyond this there are several rather irregular, fine black
marks, and an obscure white patch below the apex; the cilia are dull
green. The hind-wings are grey slightly tinged with reddish; the dorsum
and termen are shaded with green, and there is a number of curved black
lines on the dorsum; the cilia are dull greenish-grey. The termen of the
fore-wings is slightly bowed, and all the wings are finely scalloped and
sharply outlined in black.
A very distinct variety frequently occurs in which the entire ground colour
is _orange-yellow_. This variety can be artificially produced by exposing a
typical specimen to the fumes of bruised laurel leaves. Intermediate forms
may also be found, but are much scarcer than either the typical form or the
variety.
The larva (according to Mr. Purdie[26]) is about ½ inch long; colour
brownish, surface very rugged; body tapering somewhat towards the head. Two
pairs of small dorsal tubercles about the middle, the posterior pair being
larger; oblique lateral dark markings faintly seen on dark ground colour;
below lighter. Food-plants: _Aristotelia_, _Leptospermum ericoides_,
_Rubus_ (?), and _Muhlenbeckia_ (?). Found in December and January.
The perfect insect appears from September till May, and is often very
common. It rests on tree-trunks with outspread wings, in which position it
so closely resembles a patch of moss that it is extremely difficult to
detect, even when specially searched for.
CHLOROCLYSTIS ANTARCTICA, n. sp.
(Plate VI., fig. 20.)
This species was discovered by Mr. Philpott at West Plains, near
Invercargill.
The expansion of the wings is 7/8 inch. The fore-wings are rather dull
green; there is a reddish-brown patch near the base, followed by two,
slightly oblique, reddish bands; the central band is very broad, green,
traversed by numerous fine wavy lines; there is a broad reddish band on
the termen. The hind-wings are slaty-grey, tinged with pink towards the
termen and dorsum. The cilia of all the wings are pink barred with black.
Two other specimens kindly given to me by Mr. Philpott have the bands on
the fore-wings more or less brown in place of red, but are otherwise
identical.
This insect is evidently very closely allied to _C. bilineolata_, but its
larger size, longer wings, and barred cilia will, I think, distinguish it
from that species.
The perfect insect appears in November.
CHLOROCLYSTIS ARISTIAS, Meyr.
(_Chloroclystis aristias_, Meyr., Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond. 1897, 385.)
(Plate VI., fig. 21 [M], 22 [F].)
This beautiful insect was discovered on the Mount Arthur Tableland in
January, 1896, at an elevation of about 4,000 feet.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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