This fine species has been taken in the North Island at Auckland, Kaitoke, and Wellington.
The expansion of the wings is about 3 inches. The fore-wings are rather dull yellow, finely marbled with black; there are two conspicuous irregular black marks a little above the middle of the dorsum. The hind-wings are very dark purplish-brown with the cilia yellow, barred with brown. The head and thorax are dull yellow, speckled with black, and the abdomen is dark purplish-brown, barred with dull white, with a yellow tuft at the apex.
The perfect insect appears in October, November, and December. At present I am only aware of four specimens in collections, viz., two in the British Museum, taken at Auckland; one in Mr. Meyrick's collection, taken by Mr. H. B. Kirk on the Rimutaka Ranges, at an elevation of about 1,500 feet; and one kindly given to me by Mr. W. R. Morris, who took it at Wadestown, near Wellington.[[69]] It is evidently a scarce species, but may be looked for in the forest districts of the North Island.
PORINA CERVINATA, Walk.
(Elhamma cervinata, Walk., Suppl. 595. Porina vexata, ib. 597. Pielus variolaris, Gn., Ent. Mo. Mag. v. 1. Porina fuliginea, Butl., Cist. Ent. ii. 488. Porina cervinata, Meyr., Trans. N. Z. Inst. xxii. 208.)
(Plate [XIII]., fig. 12 ♂, fig. 18 variety of ♀.)
This insect is fairly common, and generally distributed throughout the country. It is very abundant in the Manawatu district.
The expansion of the wings is about 1½ inches. The fore-wings vary from brownish-black to dull yellow; there are several small white spots near the base margined with black, and an obscure cloudy central streak, sometimes containing one or two minute irregular white marks; near the termen a broad, pale, wavy line runs from the costa to the dorsum, and contains several elongate dull white spots, margined with black; another series of smaller spots is often situated between this line and the termen; there is a terminal row of small black spots. The hind-wings vary from pale greyish-brown to dull yellow. The cilia of all the wings are barred with dark brown.
This species is extremely variable. In many cases a large number of the spots is wanting. Mr. Meyrick states that the northern specimens are more yellow-ochreous, and more distinctly spotted than the southern ones. He adds that "the ochreous forms are easily distinguished from other species by the numerous spots and the absence of a continuous pale discal streak; the fuscous forms are sometimes very similar in colouring to P. despecta, but they are distinctly shorter-winged, and the compound discal spots appear to be a good character."
I have taken several specimens of what appears to be a variety of this species on the Tableland of Mount Arthur. It is much paler than the typical form, the markings much less distinct, and the central portions of the fore-wings very pale yellow (see fig. 18).