(Cacopsodos niger, Butl., Proc. Zool. Soc., Lond. 1877, 395, pl. xliii. 4. Dichromodes nigra, Meyr., Trans. N. Z. Inst. xx. 60.)
(Plate [VIII]., fig. 40.)
This little insect has been taken at Nelson.
The expansion of the wings is ⅞ inch. All the wings are dull black. The fore-wings have a darker central area, bordered by two jagged pale grey transverse lines, the first at about one-third and the second at about two-thirds; there is also a faint line near the termen. The hind-wings have a very obscure dark central line.
The perfect insect appears in February. It occurs quite commonly on the track to the Dun Mountain, near Nelson, frequenting openings in the birch forest, where it may be captured at rest on bare ground in the hot sunshine, at elevations of from 1,500 to 2,000 feet.
DICHROMODES GYPSOTIS, Meyr.
(Cacopsodos niger, Meyr., Trans. N. Z. Inst. xvi. 94 (nec Butl.). Dichromodes gypsotis, Meyr., Trans. N. Z. Inst. xx. 60.)
This insect was discovered by Mr. Meyrick at Lake Wakatipu in the South Island.
The expansion of the wings of the female is 13 mm. (½ inch). "Fore-wings rather narrow, costa sinuate, termen sinuate; white, slightly mixed with grey; dorsum narrowly grey; a slender black fascia almost at base; a slender black fascia at one-third, dentate inwards above middle, dilated on costa; a slender black fascia beyond middle, sharply angulated in middle, dilated on costa, connected below middle with preceding fascia by a suffused bar; close beyond this a rather broad parallel grey fascia; an indistinct grey subterminal line. Hind-wings moderate; termen rounded dark grey."—(Meyrick.)
Taken in December, at an elevation of about 1,500 feet above the sea-level.