(Plate [VIII]., fig. 17.)
Two specimens of this species were captured by Mr. J. D. Enys, at Castle Hill in the South Island.
The expansion of the wings is about 1 inch. The fore-wings are dull brown, with numerous fine, wavy, dusky lines and a faint dot above the middle. The hind-wings are orange-yellow, dotted with black near the base; there is a rather broad STRAIGHT transverse black band near the middle, followed by a much finer wavy line; there are three fine, wavy lines parallel with the termen, and the termen itself is finely bordered with black.
Described and figured from a specimen in Mr. Fereday's collection.
NOTOREAS ZOPYRA, Meyr.
(Pasithea zopyra, Meyr., Trans. N. Z. Inst. xvi. 89. Notoreas zopyra, ib. xviii. 184.)
(Plate [VIII]., figs. 18 and 19, varieties.)
This bright-looking little species has occurred at Mount Arthur and at Mount Hutt, in the South Island.
The expansion of the wings is about ¾ inch. The fore-wings are dark bluish-grey, with numerous slender, wavy, blackish transverse lines, and a distinct blackish dot above the middle. The hind-wings are bright orange, speckled with grey near the base and dorsum; there are from two to four very fine, wavy, broken, blackish, transverse lines, and the termen is narrowly bordered with black.
The perfect insect appears in January, frequenting shingle flats on the mountain sides, at about 4,000 feet above the sea-level. It flies rapidly in the hottest sunshine, and, when it alights on the stones, is extremely difficult to find. The brilliant hind-wings, which are very conspicuous when the moth is flying, quite disqualify the eye from detecting the extremely obscure object, which the insect instantly becomes when resting with its fore-wings alone exposed. This method of increasing the value of protective tints by means of bright colours temporarily displayed was very clearly described, I believe for the first time, by Lord Walsingham in his address to the Fellows of the Entomological Society of London, in January, 1891. It is certainly well exemplified by this and several other species of the genus Notoreas, and it will be at once noticed by the collector, how extremely difficult it is to follow these active little moths, as they fly with short and rapid flight over the grey rocks and stones, with which their fore-wings so completely harmonize; the momentary glimpse obtained of the brilliant hind-wings so completely deceives the eye, that there is much more difficulty in marking the spot where the insect alights, than would have been the case if the brilliant colour had never been displayed.