PORINA ENYSII, Butl.
(Porina enysii, Butl., Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1877, 381, pi. xlii. 7. Porina enysii, Meyr., Trans. N. Z. Inst. xxii. 207.)
(Plate [XIII]., fig. 9 ♂, fig. 10 ♀.)
This species appears to be confined to the North Island, where it is rather rare.
The expansion of the wings of the male is 2½ inches, of the female 3½ inches. The fore-wings are dark orange-brown, more or less marbled with yellow and dark brown; there is a very variable number of small dull white spots margined with black and arranged irregularly on the wing. The hind-wings are pinkish-brown, tinged with ochreous on the termen.
This species varies a good deal in the extent of the darker markings, and number and position of the dull white spots. When alive it is usually very strongly tinged with pink.
The perfect insect appears in December and January, and frequents forests. It is especially fond of resting on the stems of tree-ferns in the daytime, where, however, it is extremely inconspicuous, and can only be discovered by very careful searching. It is also very partial to light, and specimens might perhaps be secured more plentifully, if a good attracting lamp were exhibited in a suitable locality.
PORINA CHARACTERIFERA, Walk.
(Hepialus characterifer, Walk., Suppl. 594. Oxycanus impletus, ib. 598. Porina characterifera, Meyr., Trans. N. Z. Inst. xxii. 208.)
(Plate [XIII]., fig. 11 ♂.)