(Epyaxa orophyla, Meyr., Trans. N. Z. Inst. xvi. 71.)
(Plate [VII]., fig. 24 ♂, 25 ♀.)
This fine species has occurred in the South Island at Nelson, Castle Hill, Mount Hutt, Dunedin and Lake Wakatipu.
The expansion of the wings of the male is 1¼ inches, of the female 1⅜ inches. The fore-wings of the male are pale brownish-grey; there is an obscure bent blackish line near the base, a moderately broad central band bounded by two very distinct shaded blackish lines, the basal one of which is not curved; the termen is shaded with darker grey, and there is an oblique pale mark near the apex. The hind-wings are pale grey tinged with ochreous.
The female is slightly darker than the male; and there are numerous wavy pale and dark grey lines filling up the entire wing on each side of the central band.
The perfect insect appears in December, January, and February. It frequents open country on the mountain sides, at elevations of from 2,500 to 4,000 feet.
I observed it in great abundance on the Humboldt Range at the head of Lake Wakatipu, where it frequented the damp rocky precipices which were fringed with a luxuriant growth of Alpine plants. At Castle Hill it occurred much less commonly, so that it would appear to be most plentiful in the extreme south of New Zealand. The colouring is protective when the insect is resting on rock surfaces.
XANTHORHOE SEMIFISSATA, Walk.
(Coremia semifissata, Walk. 1320. Coremia ypsilonaria, Gn., E. M. M. v. 64. Cidaria delicatulata, Gn., E. M. M. v. 94. Epyaxa semifissata, Meyr., Trans. N. Z. Inst. xvi. 72.)
(Plate [VII]., fig. 26 ♂, 27 ♀.)