(Plate [VIII]., fig. 30 ♂, 31 ♀.)
This bright-looking species has occurred at Wellington in the North Island, and at Mount Arthur and Mount Hutt in the South Island.
The expansion of the wings is about 1⅛ inches. The fore-wings are bright orange-yellow; the base is speckled with black and dull green scales; there is a rather indistinct band at about one-third; a broad wavy dark brown band a little beyond the middle, with a projection towards the termen, followed by a clear space and another broad irregular dark transverse band; the termen is broadly bordered with dark brown, which is often almost continuous with the last-named transverse band. The hind-wings are bright orange; there is a large speckled area near the base edged with a curved black line, followed by a clear space, and an interrupted dark brown transverse line considerably beyond the middle; the termen is rather narrowly edged with a dark brown line, wavy towards the base of the wing. The cilia of all the wings are yellow barred with black.
The species varies considerably in the extent of the dark markings, especially on the fore-wings.
The egg is oval and white, without sculpture.
The young larva, which is very attenuated, has sixteen legs. Its colour is pale yellowish-brown above, and dull ochreous beneath. The food-plant is unknown.
The perfect insect appears from October till March, and frequents open, grassy situations. At Wellington, during October and November, it is common on the cliffs close to the shores of Cook's Strait, flying very rapidly on hot, sunny days, which renders its capture very difficult in such steep situations. Mr. Fereday's specimens were obtained amongst the tussock grass at the foot of Mount Hutt. The insect was also found plentifully on the slopes of Mount Arthur, at an elevation of about 4,500 feet above the sea-level, and also on the Tararua Range in the North Island.
DASYURIS HECTORI, Butl.
(Euclidia hectori, Butl., Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 1877, 387, pl. xlii. 4. Statira hectori, Meyr., Trans. N. Z. Inst. xvi. 91. Stathmonyma hectori, ib. xviii. 184.)
(Plate [VIII]., fig. 32.)